What are Canada's 'super pigs' and why are they deadly?

Pigs, swine, hogs, boars – whichever name you give them, these omnivores are poised to wreak havoc on the environment in both Canada and the United States. A group of “super pigs” that appear to be travelling down from Canada to the northern US pose a serious threat to native wildlife and humans alike, by spreading disease and gobbling up crops, reported The Guardian. Researchers are concerned that the potential impact of hogs is growing in the US with North America facing a serious swine-related threat. Let’s take a closer look at the matter.

What are Canadian “super pigs”? The Canadian super pig is a hybrid species that was made by mating domestic pigs and wild boars, according to The Guardian. According to the US-based Field and Stream website, they were created by Canadian farmers who bred large-bodied pigs that are far more resistant to the cold. Thus, they are able to survive and reproduce at temperatures that would have killed off other types of livestock. Though they initially lived in captivity, a decline in the market for boar led to many of them being freed, reported a UK-based science website IFL Science. Dr Ryan Brook, who leads the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Wild Pig Research Project told US-based media company Outdoors that one of the things, these hogs do to survive during winters is a “tunnel under the snow.” He explained, “They go into a cattail marsh and channel into the soft snow and cut nests in the cattails. If you go early in the morning on a cold day, you can actually see steam pouring out the top of the nests.” The Guardian reported that the species has multiplied over the past few decades, and if substantial action is not taken, it will pose numerous threats to wildlife in Canada and now North America. The report added that super pigs have been destroying crops, causing harm to ecosystems, contaminating watersheds, spreading diseases, and even killing other huge wild animals since the 1980s. Also read: Can death be reversed? Scientists partially revive pig organs hour after demise When did they come into existence? New York-based Green Matters cited the University of Saskatchewan as claiming that when Canadian farmers imported European wild boars in the 1980s, wild pig problems began to arise in Canada. In order to rear the wild animals for meat, the farmers started breeding them with domestic pigs that were already present in Canada. These two pig species were not indigenous to Canada. Following that, many of these pigs ended up in the wild. Some of them naturally escaped from farms, while others were released into the wild on purpose by farmers due to a decline in the demand for pig meat. These super pigs have been able to “breed unrestrained for decades,” according to the university, which has dramatically increased their population in Canada. Super pigs have also harmed the ecosystem because neither they nor the domestic and feral pigs they were bred from were indigenous to the area. IFL Science reports that the US, where swine-related diseases are not new, is home to over six million wild hogs. According to The Guardian, the US government estimates the country’s wild or feral hogs cause $1.5 billion of damage each year. Also read: Why California’s restrictions on pork has the US Supreme Court worried How do they pose threat? The problem with super pigs is that they don’t get along with the native species. They not only pose a serious threat to the availability of resources, but they also have a tendency of destroying the eggs of many species, such as turkeys, explained IFL Science. As seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, wild animals can also serve as disease reservoirs. Serious diseases like the avian flu outbreak, which spread through wild animals, can cause a major risk to humans as well. Thus, managing “highly elusive” species such as super pigs is important for both ecological health and human health. Dr Brook, while speaking to The Guardian, said that wild hogs are easily the worst invasive large mammal on the planet,” adding, “They’re incredibly intelligent. They’re highly elusive, and also when there’s any pressure on them, especially if people start hunting them, they become almost completely nocturnal, and they become very elusive – hiding in heavy forest cover, and they disappear into wetlands and they can be very hard to locate.” Also read: Why billionaire Carl Icahn’s is feuding with McDonald’s over gestation crates What can be done? According to Dr Brook, in order to prevent the problem, several tools such as trapping, utilising “Judas Pigs,” and eliminating entire pig families, should be used to kill wild hogs. He also urged hunters to refrain from killing any hogs. While speaking to Field and Stream, he said, “Sport hunting is not part of the solution because it break up groups and makes things worse.” He believes that wild hogs exist solely due to human importation, breeding, and exploitation of them for profit back in the 1980s. Thus, he says instead of slaughtering them, birth control efforts that To prevent this problem from getting any worse — or becoming a serious issue in the Northern U.S. — Brook believes that a variety of tools should be used to kill wild pigs, such as trapping, using “Judas Pigs,” and killing entire pig families. He also encourages hunters to avoid killing any hogs. “Sport hunting is not part of the solution because it breaks up groups and causes things to get worse,” he told Field & Stream. That said, these pigs did not ask to be born or mean to become invasive creatures — they exist purely because humans imported, bred, and exploited them for money back in the 1980s. Birth control measures, which have been used for other species like the grey squirrel, could be a feasible alternative rather than killing these defenceless pigs, he said. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. 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