I haven’t had a chance to do this in a while, but tonight I spent some time cruising through my news feeds to see what’s happening in the world of wild hogs, boar, and pigs. There’s no way I can bring you all up to speed on all that we’ve missed, but here are a couple of tidbits that I had to share.
First, this is from ABC Rural News (ABC, in this case, is Australian Broadcasting Company), about the impact, or lack thereof, that recreational hunters are having on the overpopulation of hogs in that country. I’ve mentioned before that hunters participating under fair chase principles simply won’t do what it takes to eradicate hogs, and that certainly seems to be the case in Australia.
Recreational hunting is a favourite pastime of many people in regional areas, but Dr Carol Booth, from the Invasive Species Council, says unco-ordinated shooting does little to reduce feral populations.
“It’s been estimated for some areas that you need to reduce pig populations by something like 70 per cent to actually achieve a reduction in the population the following year,” he says.
It’s an interesting reality check.
Another article from the BBC discusses the recent deaths of a couple of reintroduced wild boar in a Scottish forest. The disease angle is interesting enough, but what really caught my attention was the rationale for reintroducing these beasts… because they control the undergrowth and keep brush under control.
The animals were released in a bid to aid the regeneration of ancient Caledonian woodland.
Trees for Life is keeping the surviving boar in a 30.4 acre enclosure in an area of ancient birch wood.
It hopes the animal will control the spread of bracken which shades out other wild plants.
Of course, in Scotland and Britain wild boar are, after all, native to that landscape. It does make me wonder what the real impacts of wild hogs would be on US habitat. Isn’t it possible that, in the big picture, they may actually offer some benefits?
That’s just a taste of what’s going on with hogs around the world. Thought ya’ll might find it interesting.
Beastslayer
In native habitat, the flora, soil, watersheds, and other habitat pieces have adapted with the fauna, which is why reintroduction of native species is never seen as a threat. In the absence of native species, other natives can, in fact, become a nuisance to the habitat as a whole (see sea otters and sea urchin, for example).
There exists the possibility that new species with characteristics similar to earlier, extirpated species, or species that provide some habitat benefits in new or pressured habitat, might should at least be allowed to stay (I blogged about this recently). However, the benefit of the doubt really should go in favor of protecting the native habitat from incursions, with studies to follow.