North America: hybrid super-pigs become a plague

North America: hybrid super-pigs become a plague

Martina Hungerkamp, ​​AGRARHEUTE*

© Image/imagebroker

In North America, wild boar and crosses between wild boar and domestic pigs [cochongliers] have become a real scourge. This phenomenon is partly due to humans.

Incredibly intelligent and difficult to catch: wild boars and crosses between wild boars and domestic pigs become a plague. This is partly due to man.

Originally, there were no real wild boars in North America. It was the Spaniards who introduced domestic pigs to the continent in the 16th century.^e century. Some of them have returned to the wild. In recent decades, these wild boars have become a nationwide scourge. They devour crops, spread disease and are said to even kill deer and elk.

According The Guardian, a new threat would now be added: a so-called super-pig from Canada. In the 1980s, wild boars were again crossed there with domestic pigs in order to obtain bigger and meatier pigs. Some of them escaped or were even deliberately left behind, as they were easier to shoot down. The hybrids quickly spread across Canada. Some specimens would weigh more than 300 kg.

Super-pig: huge, smart, cold-tolerant

These would be enormous, incredibly intelligent and extremely elusive pigs. Thanks to their size, they are able to survive in cold climates (down to -50°C). To do this, they sink up to 2 meters under the snow and create a cave there. Preferably in marshy areas with cattail. They harvest it with their razor-sharp canines, the tusks, to equip their caves with and thus isolate them.

These super pigs are now on the verge of invading the northern states of the United States and increasing the number of wild boars there already. According to US government estimates, the approximately 6 million wild boars in the United States already cause damage worth $1.5 billion a year.

Wild boars are hunted with machine guns

According to Guardian, a veritable hunting industry has developed in the regions where wild boars are particularly widespread. People would pay thousands of dollars to shoot boars with machine guns.

But hunting would also be one of the origins of this scourge partly of human origin in the United States: the pigs would have been voluntarily released by men in order to constitute a huntable population. This is how we arrived at a rapid increase.

Wild boar invasion endangers native species

All in all, the boars would have a very negative impact on the fauna and flora, as they force their way unceremoniously through the country. According to a spokesperson for the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Wild Boar Damage Management Program (USDA), there is, for example, direct food competition with native species.

Pigs are also experienced and opportunistic predators. Their long tusks are weapons to be taken seriously. They kill young fawns, are known to be nest predators and thus affect among other things the population of turkeys and quails.

United States: wild boars cause environmental damage

In addition, wild boars are said to be responsible for a whole series of environmental damage. For example, they would destroy crops and trees and pollute the waters. According to the spokesperson, wild boars pose a risk to human health and safety.

Meanwhile, the number of pigs has increased in the United States to more than 6 million in 34 states. Faced with the extent of the damage, everything is now done to get rid of the pigs. With some success, scientists captured entire hordes in large traps. Attempts to poison wild boars were less successful. Experts do not believe in a complete eradication of the invasive species in North America.

With material from The Guardian

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* Martina Hungerkamp works at AGRICULTURAL TODAY as a cross-media editor in the breeding section. She mainly writes about livestock farming, preferably pigs and poultry.

Source : North America: Hybrid superpigs become a nuisance | agrarheute.com