Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada: “The most invasive animal and an ecological wreck.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture: “Wild boars appear in at least 35 states… “6 million expected”
The population of wild boars has exploded in the western Canadian grasslands, and several northern U.S. states have taken measures to prevent damage.
According to the U.S. Associated Press on the 21st (local time), wild boars roaming the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are becoming a new threat to local communities. It is a hybrid breed that combines the survival ability of the Eurasian wild boar and the high reproductive ability of the domestic pig, and is called the ‘super pig’.
Professor Ryan Brook of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada described wild boars as “the most invasive animal on Earth and an ecological wreck.”
Professor Brook explains that wild boars are not native to North America. Canada’s wild boar problem grew when farmers began raising wild boars in the 1980s. The wild boar market peaked in 2001 and then gradually collapsed, leading some frustrated farmers to release wild boars into the wild.
Canadian wild boars are known to be smart and adaptable. These pigs eat everything, including wildlife and crops, and in the process can spread deadly infectious diseases such as African swine fever to pig farms. The reproduction rate is also very fast; one female wild boar can give birth to 12 pigs in a year.
Professor Brook says it is no longer possible to eradicate wild boars in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. He explained, “The key is to have a detection system that can detect wild boars early and respond quickly.”
Countermeasures are being taken against the increasing number of wild boars in the northern United States. Minnesota state authorities plan to identify loopholes in the wild boar management system and release a report on new measures in February next year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is using aircraft and drones to increase surveillance of wild boars along the northern border.
According to the Department of Agriculture, wild boars have recently been reported in at least 35 states, and their population is estimated to be about 6 million.
Damage prevention projects are also underway at the national level. “Since we launched the National Wild Boar Management Program in 2014, we have allocated funding to 33 states,” said Mike Marlowe, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture. “The goal of the program is to eradicate low or emerging wild boar populations and eliminate wild boar populations, such as those in Texas and southeastern states. “It’s about reducing damage to places where they already live,” he said.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.