[Bon mots]

This might be a dumb question if I were from Texas, but here in Europe, we have plenty of wild boars, and they all have pretty big tusks that they will use to rip your intestines out if they get close to you.
We instruct our kids to shimmy up a tree if they see one in the wild. They are fairly dangerous, and don't forget, related to bears... except they don't have claws.

Are the ones mentioned in this article similar to the European wild boar? Or are they simply domestic pigs that have escaped and live wild?

[bayourod]

They don't look like the black furry critter in your picture.

[dtel]

They are mostly tame hogs gone feral.
They have been running around about a hundred years and are now quite populous.
I live one county east of the county mentioned in this article and we have plenty of feral hogs out here.
In south Texas they also have a Javelina pig, which I believe is some kin of the European boar.
The feral hogs are quite dangerous and do grow tusks, although not as gnarly as the Javelina or European pigs.

The ferals are classified as a varmit and you can hunt them year round. The ones around here knosh on acorns and are quite tasty.

[Uncle Meat]

I've stumbled up to a few of those in Grafenwoehr.If you approach a sow with piglets,you'd better haul ass.I'd hear them rip the mess tents garbage bags up at night.

[Destructor]

I hunt Feral hogs in South Texas (Edwards County). Those hogs are domestic pigs that got loose, and bred with Russian Boars that were imported for game ranches in the area. Those hogs are MEAN! Some of them even have the third tusk on the bottom jaw. That is a trait that comes directly from Russian Boars.

[Rytwyng]

Are the ones mentioned in this article similar to the European wild boar? Or are they simply domestic pigs that have escaped and live wild?

Mixture of both. We have them in California too. Feral domestic hogs crossbred with escaped purebred wild stock that had been brought in for hunting.

[texson66]

Here's one from Albany, TX

[texson66]

For those interested.... here's the distribution of Feral Hogs in TX and OK

[VadeRetro]

They are fairly dangerous, and don't forget, related to bears... except they don't have claws.

They're more related to camels, whales, sheep, and deer than to any true carnivore. Seems odd, but true.