Who are Hybrid Super Pigs and Why Are They Threatening Ecosystems in Canada?

Recently in North America A A new environmental threat: a Mixed Called between pig and pig sanglochon and was called “Super Pig” in many international media. Pigs were created from artificial crosses in Canada, and in recent years some of them have escaped from farms, because of their incredible resistance, survived the harsh Canadian winter temperatures, traveled several kilometers and expanded south, towards the United States. United.

The new pig is therefore a Invasive creature In its path undermined the arbitrary from their own places. The incredible adaptability of this animal allowed it to be more efficient at gathering resources than other animals living in the same ecosystems and in a short period of time. Damage to the environment and humans On the order of billions of dollars.

The hand of man has once again overturned the rules of the “ecosystem game,” the delicate balance established among the species of the ecosystem. The sanglochon It was born out of the human desire to breed a larger animal Increased meat production, a longing for control over natural processes turned against us again. problem Animal aggressionNot just American, though: the hybrid is found in other parts of the world, including Europe.

Who is the “Super Pig”?

In fact, these wild hybrids exist throughout Eurasia, the Americas, Australia, and other places where European settlers imported pigs and pigs. In many of these areas, hybrid pigs have become invasive species, and the damage they cause to ecosystems is sometimes catastrophic. In the case of Australia or Brazil.

A wild boar accidentally crosses and For synthetic hybridization for meat productionThere are also many research projects to reproduce the so-called “Iron Age Pig”. These studies began in the early 1980s, when several scientists crossed a male pig with the Tamworth Sow, a British breed, to recreate an animal similar to the first domestic pigs. They went with man millions of years ago.

Regardless of the scientific purpose, Iron Age pigs are commonly bred in Europe to this day meat market, Although some breeders in Sweden define the population of hybrids living there as normal, the result of wild boar irritation in some piggeries. However, in keeping with their genetic heritage, which is half derived from wild boars, hybrids are generally more aggressive and difficult to manage than other pigs, although these traits vary greatly depending on the degree of relationship between wild boars and pigs. It is precisely because of this attitude that they are different chantlocans managed to escape From some Canadian farms, a growing and advertising wild population forms destroying the resources of the habitats they encounter.

However, the situation in other countries is no less. For example in Australia We see hybrids born after the liberation of wild boars imported by man during the colonial period and hunted. The same thing happened In South AmericaSome hybrid populations were born after wild boars were reintroduced from Russia for hunting in 1990.

These migrations and liberations, therefore, mean a population of hybrids Born in different parts of the planet And their natural resilience and reproductive capacity have allowed their numbers to grow at impressive rates in many countries. For example, in the southern United States, the number of these pigs tripled from 1990 to 2014. In 2014, the population reached 6 million in the United States. As their numbers have increased in the past decades, especially in the United States, several control and project hunting programs were born to reduce the impact of the invasive animal, but now the situation is out of control and any eradication program has disappeared.

Unfortunately, this is a story that repeats itself over and over again The cause and origin of the problem is man It, voluntarily or involuntarily, transports organisms from one part of the world to another. A vivid example is provided by the story of the cane toad, an amphibian introduced by man Biological control of agricultural pests In various parts of the world since the 1840s. The presence of these invasive species in ecosystems has led to incredible imbalances and its eradication is now an impossible task.

Italy is also severely affected by the presence of sometimes invasive species They may accidentally ride By human traffic. This is the case Rats They occupy many islands of the Mediterranean Sea and prey on the small chicks of non-native ground-nesting birds. These animals may have come to the islands Boarding the ship Landings along with loads of goods and people and millions of euros have been allocated to eradication or control projects towards them.