Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
The return of Borneo’s bearded boars – and what it means for the food chain
When a virus wiped out the pig population it led to crocodile attacks on humans. But signs of life are emerging from the jungle
Sarah Newey,
GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, IN KINABATANGAN
29 May 2024 • 12:20pm
...
If sustained, it’ll be quite a comeback. In January 2021, as people across the globe were still grappling with Covid-19, African swine fever (ASF) arrived in the lush jungle at the northeastern tip of Malaysian Borneo.
...
It didn’t take long for the virus to fan out across Borneo. According to one paper published in Nature, it eventually raced across the world’s third largest island at a pace of 4.2km per day.
A second wave hit pig farms, but the first devastated the region’s iconic bearded boars – wiping out up to 95 per cent of them. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) already listed them as ‘vulnerable’ in their Red List of endangered species; researchers writing in Science have since called for them to be reclassified as critically endangered.
...
The bearded boar’s absence has had significant ripple effects across local communities and the ecosystem; it has even been linked to a bump in crocodile attacks.
“Bearded pigs were one of the most important prey for large crocodiles,” says Dr Benoit Goossens, director of the DGFC. “There’s been an increase in attacks on people in the last few years… one hypothesis is that they could be predating on people instead.”
Crocodiles aren’t the only ones to lose a food source. Although Borneo’s Muslim population don’t consume pork, non-Muslim villages nestled in the rainforest relied on the bearded boars for up to 80 per cent of their protein intake.
...
,,,
It’s unclear how long it will take the bearded pigs to recover in Borneo, and if they’ll ever become as abundant as they once were. But at DGFC, relief about the sighting is palpable.
...
“It took four years to see them back in our area. So this is exciting, it’s good news for Sabah.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...eo-african-swine-fever-crocodile-attacks/?n=@
----------------------------------
See also:
Malaysia: 30 Penang pig farms hit by African swine fever
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...0-penang-pig-farms-hit-by-african-swine-fever
Malaysia: 2022 African Swine Fever
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...ever/935604-malaysia-2022-african-swine-fever
When a virus wiped out the pig population it led to crocodile attacks on humans. But signs of life are emerging from the jungle
Sarah Newey,
GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, IN KINABATANGAN
29 May 2024 • 12:20pm
...
If sustained, it’ll be quite a comeback. In January 2021, as people across the globe were still grappling with Covid-19, African swine fever (ASF) arrived in the lush jungle at the northeastern tip of Malaysian Borneo.
...
It didn’t take long for the virus to fan out across Borneo. According to one paper published in Nature, it eventually raced across the world’s third largest island at a pace of 4.2km per day.
A second wave hit pig farms, but the first devastated the region’s iconic bearded boars – wiping out up to 95 per cent of them. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) already listed them as ‘vulnerable’ in their Red List of endangered species; researchers writing in Science have since called for them to be reclassified as critically endangered.
...
The bearded boar’s absence has had significant ripple effects across local communities and the ecosystem; it has even been linked to a bump in crocodile attacks.
“Bearded pigs were one of the most important prey for large crocodiles,” says Dr Benoit Goossens, director of the DGFC. “There’s been an increase in attacks on people in the last few years… one hypothesis is that they could be predating on people instead.”
Crocodiles aren’t the only ones to lose a food source. Although Borneo’s Muslim population don’t consume pork, non-Muslim villages nestled in the rainforest relied on the bearded boars for up to 80 per cent of their protein intake.
...
,,,
It’s unclear how long it will take the bearded pigs to recover in Borneo, and if they’ll ever become as abundant as they once were. But at DGFC, relief about the sighting is palpable.
...
“It took four years to see them back in our area. So this is exciting, it’s good news for Sabah.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...eo-african-swine-fever-crocodile-attacks/?n=@
----------------------------------
See also:
Malaysia: 30 Penang pig farms hit by African swine fever
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...0-penang-pig-farms-hit-by-african-swine-fever
Malaysia: 2022 African Swine Fever
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...ever/935604-malaysia-2022-african-swine-fever