African Warthog Found Wandering Through West Palm Beach

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News Talk Florida
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State Wildlife officials baffled

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, warthogs are seen at a watering hole at Melorani Safaris at Olifantsvallei, South Africa. In 1986 the landowner, Stewart Dorrington, turned his family cattle ranch, a three-hour drive north east of Johannesburg, into a wildlife reserve where he hosts about two-dozen bow and arrow hunters a year. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — African warthogs, not surprisingly, are not native to Florida so state wildlife officials are investigating how one wound up loose in a suburban neighborhood.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officials told TCPalm.com that it captured the tusky animal last month after a five-day search about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach. That included failed attempts to capture it with traps and a rope snare before a wildlife officer spotted it and tackled it. The newspaper reports the officer got some cuts on his legs in the process.

Under state law, owning a warthog requires a permit but no one in that area had one. Officials said the beast is tame and is friendly when offered food.

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