feral - previously domesticated animal either abandoned or escaped from captivity that resorts to the wild to survive.
By definition a pig behind the farmer’s fence that is fed and cared for cannot be arbitrarily declared “feral” no matter what the breed. The DNR’s definition of unapproved pigs pretty much describes all pigs but the pink factory pigs.
Disagree totally that this story was “over sensationalized” - it hit a very visceral cord in me.
A pig living behind a farmer's fence, fed by said farmer, is not a gd FERAL pig, no matter what it looks like.
Wild boars have very small litters, 2-4. Feral pigs farrow 8-12 regularly. Those numbers are why they increase so rapidly and are so destructive. Domestic pigs go feral very quickly, within one generation.