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Finally this is proven. It is by no means surprising. Wild domestic pigs, which I know are a different species, are a plague in much of North America and Aust

Finally this is proven. It is by no means surprising. Wild domestic pigs, which I know are a different species, are a plague in much of North America and Australia partially due to their intelligence. Half the North American pig problem is in Texas where an estimated 2-2.5 million pigs roam the country side. Because they are such a threat to the environment and their population is so out of control there is no limit on hunting them in either season or quantity. Pigs are particularly challenging to control because of their intelligence and lack of predators. Because of their size, intelligence, and aggressiveness they have no natural predators in Texas. They are quick to learn of hunting traps and will either avoid or disarm them. A herd of pigs reduced in population by 70% can rebound within 2-3 years without continued management. They tear up the land and are a serious threat to the natural ecology and food supply. Their damage to commercial agriculture is estimated at $50 million per year, but their damage to property and the environment is estimated at close to half a billion each year. Because of their high intelligence they are adapting their range from rural areas to suburbs and urban areas. Unlike coyotes, which have also adapted from rural to urban areas with great success, they are often not afraid of people are known to hurt people in attacks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_pig https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_pig

mikelyons 7y ago
I found it interesting that many of these things you could also say about humans. Massive populations, no predators anymore, environmental damage, intelligence ...
- WaxProlix 7y ago
  There are a ton of cool similarities, including compatibility of tissues in transplants! Also according to cannibals we taste similar (hence 'long pig' as a term for human flesh). Smart, deeply interesting animals. https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/pigs-and-humans-more-closely-related-thought-according-genetic-analysis https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/pigs-and-h...
  - war1025 7y ago
    Reminds me of this: https://phys.org/news/2013-07-chimp-pig-hybrid-humans.html https://phys.org/news/2013-07-chimp-pig-hybrid-humans.html
- taneq 7y ago
  ...taste a bit like pig...
- shoo 7y ago
  > no natural predators in Texas estimated texan pig population 2-2.5 million vs estimated texan human population 28-39 million. let's estimate 5% of texan humans don't eat pork. texan pigs are still outnumbered 10 to 1 by a predator that will kill and eat them. if i were a texan pig, i'd be pretty anxious about that.
tpmx 7y ago
The same is happening with the wild boar in Sweden. They're multiplying like there's no tomorrow. IIRC from the radio news item I heard, there's now 4x more car collisions with wild boars than with moose, which is a bit of an unusual situation here. Volvo may need to recalibrate their safety effort... The national government here just announced a few days ago they'll allocate resources on streamlining Trichinella round-worm testing procedures and encouraging use of wild boar meat in restaurants, school food, fast food (McBoar, anyone?) etc. Many farmers have been complaining about ruined fields.
- teddyh 7y ago
  > The same is happening with the wild boar in Sweden. It’s not really the same. In Sweden, wild boars are effectively an indigenous species, present since the stone age. In the Americas, wild boars are an invasive species and a veritable menace to the local flora and fauna.
  - tpmx 7y ago
    Why does that difference matter? Edit: I mean: they have been multiplying like mad over the past 20 years. Why shouldn't we allow hunters to shoot them in some organizer manner to keep the population at some constant healthy size, like we do with the moose population? And why shouldn't that meat be used to feed people?
    - teddyh 7y ago
      The difference is that a non-invasive species is not usually a problem for the local environment. There is no reason to believe that wild boar suddenly would be multiplying massively in their native environment, since the wild boars should have natural predators and environmental factors keeping the population limited. If those are missing, the natural (and often relatively easy, compared to the alternatives) response would be to re-intruduce those natural predators and/or environments. In short, there is probably not that much to worry about wild boars in their natural environment. To Americans, though, who are used to thinking about wild boars as a unadultered horrifying menace (which they are where they live), describing Sweden as “the same” is misleading at best.
woodpanel 7y ago
It is the new normal in the outskirts of Berlin. Environmental protection (championed in areas of Berlin where no Boars will ever be encountered), makes it illegal to do anything. https://www.facebook.com/brandenburgaktuell.rbb/videos/381798362555488/ https://www.facebook.com/brandenburgaktuell.rbb/videos/38179... https://twitter.com/i/status/1086314497235656705 https://twitter.com/i/status/1086314497235656705 https://twitter.com/i/status/1083000731299446785 https://twitter.com/i/status/1083000731299446785

mikelyons 7y ago

I found it interesting that many of these things you could also say about humans. Massive populations, no predators anymore, environmental damage, intelligence ...

WaxProlix 7y ago
There are a ton of cool similarities, including compatibility of tissues in transplants! Also according to cannibals we taste similar (hence 'long pig' as a term for human flesh). Smart, deeply interesting animals. https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/pigs-and-humans-more-closely-related-thought-according-genetic-analysis https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/pigs-and-h...
- war1025 7y ago
  Reminds me of this: https://phys.org/news/2013-07-chimp-pig-hybrid-humans.html https://phys.org/news/2013-07-chimp-pig-hybrid-humans.html
taneq 7y ago
...taste a bit like pig...
shoo 7y ago
> no natural predators in Texas estimated texan pig population 2-2.5 million vs estimated texan human population 28-39 million. let's estimate 5% of texan humans don't eat pork. texan pigs are still outnumbered 10 to 1 by a predator that will kill and eat them. if i were a texan pig, i'd be pretty anxious about that.

tpmx 7y ago

The same is happening with the wild boar in Sweden. They're multiplying like there's no tomorrow. IIRC from the radio news item I heard, there's now 4x more car collisions with wild boars than with moose, which is a bit of an unusual situation here. Volvo may need to recalibrate their safety effort... The national government here just announced a few days ago they'll allocate resources on streamlining Trichinella round-worm testing procedures and encouraging use of wild boar meat in restaurants, school food, fast food (McBoar, anyone?) etc. Many farmers have been complaining about ruined fields.

teddyh 7y ago
> The same is happening with the wild boar in Sweden. It’s not really the same. In Sweden, wild boars are effectively an indigenous species, present since the stone age. In the Americas, wild boars are an invasive species and a veritable menace to the local flora and fauna.
- tpmx 7y ago
  Why does that difference matter? Edit: I mean: they have been multiplying like mad over the past 20 years. Why shouldn't we allow hunters to shoot them in some organizer manner to keep the population at some constant healthy size, like we do with the moose population? And why shouldn't that meat be used to feed people?
  - teddyh 7y ago
    The difference is that a non-invasive species is not usually a problem for the local environment. There is no reason to believe that wild boar suddenly would be multiplying massively in their native environment, since the wild boars should have natural predators and environmental factors keeping the population limited. If those are missing, the natural (and often relatively easy, compared to the alternatives) response would be to re-intruduce those natural predators and/or environments. In short, there is probably not that much to worry about wild boars in their natural environment. To Americans, though, who are used to thinking about wild boars as a unadultered horrifying menace (which they are where they live), describing Sweden as “the same” is misleading at best.

woodpanel 7y ago

It is the new normal in the outskirts of Berlin. Environmental protection (championed in areas of Berlin where no Boars will ever be encountered), makes it illegal to do anything. https://www.facebook.com/brandenburgaktuell.rbb/videos/381798362555488/ https://www.facebook.com/brandenburgaktuell.rbb/videos/38179... https://twitter.com/i/status/1086314497235656705 https://twitter.com/i/status/1086314497235656705 https://twitter.com/i/status/1083000731299446785 https://twitter.com/i/status/1083000731299446785