Forewordxiv
Reyna-Hurtado, Erik Meijaard, Mariana Altrichter, Harald
Beck, and Jaime Gongora, presents an overview of the conserva-
tion of wild pigs and peccaries. As with many other mammals,
wild pigs are threatened globally by habitat destruction, poach-
ing (including a very active bushmeat trade in some parts of the
world), diseases carried by domesticated and feral forms, and a
variety of other threats. Island populations are particularly vul-
nerable to all of these threats. Although wild boars continue to
thrive as invasive aliens in many parts of the world, some native
subspecies of Sus scrofa are threatened in Asia. The authors,
another group with considerable expertise in their subject, sum-
marize the conservation status of various forms, and make man-
agement recommendations to limit the threats.
The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) was once feared to be
extinct, but the rediscovery of small populations in two loca-
tions in north-western Assam in 1971 documented its contin-
ued, if tenuous, existence. Chapter 27, by Janani Pradhan and
Erik Meijaard, is devoted to the Pygmy Hog Conservation
Programme in the past, present and the future, investigating
the historical distribution of the species and using that infor-
mation, building a habitat suitability model to identify suitable
areas for reintroduction. This provides an expansion of the spe-
cies account for this species, prepared by Goutam Narayan and
Parag Jyoti Deka. The world’s smallest pig has been the subject of
various attempts at both in-situ and ex-situ conservations efforts,
reintroductions, and studies of various sorts. It remains on the
brink of extinction in spite of these efforts, having been extir-
pated from most of its original range in India, Bhutan and Nepal.
The following nine chapters focus on wild boar and feral
pigs, Sus scrofa, in various parts of the world. Chapter 28, by
John J. Mayer, outlines the history, problems, and manage-
ment of introduced wild pigs in North America. Once pigs were
domesticated, their appeal as a high-quality source of protein,
combined with relatively easy management, led to their trans-
port to the far reaches of the Earth. They likely reached North
America with Christopher Columbus, and the ease with which
they can colonize new habitats contributed to their rapid spread.
Although valued as domesticated forms and sometimes sought
as game, the damage they do far outweighs the benefits, and feral
populations of pigs have become one of the most notorious of
invasive aliens. In spite of a tremendous amount of attention by
management agencies, wild pigs are likely to remain a serious
problem throughout North America for the foreseeable future.
Carlos Henrique Salvador and Fernando Fernandez pre-
sent a review of the biological invasion of wild boar and feral
pigs in South America in Chapter 29. They are particularly con-
cerned with the implications for the conservation of peccaries
(Tayassuidae). They distinguish between feral pigs that have
escaped from local domesticated populations and European
wild boar that has been separately introduced. The latter are
larger and more likely to present a threat to native peccaries.
South American countries face the familiar conundrum of
wild boar finding favour as game species and a source of pro-
tein, while also doing formidable damage to native species and
domestic crops.
Chapter 30 looks at feral pigs in Australia and New Zealand,
where they are clearly an invasive species. Andrew Bengsen,Peter West, and Cheryl Krull focus on understanding impacts
and benefits and limitations of various management strategies.
The situation in Australia and New Zealand can be easily com-
pared and contrasted with that in the native range of the species
in the next chapter, where András Náhlik, Seán Cahill, Sandra
Cellina, János Gál, Ferenc Jánoska, Carme Rosell, Sophie Rossi,
and Giovanna Massei share their knowledge of wild boar man-
agement in Europe. There, wild boar numbers increased in the
1960s and 1970s, stabilized in the 1980s, and have grown stead-
ily since then. The major control measure in Europe has been
hunting, but Sus scrofa is a recovering species in its native range,
and clearly new strategies are needed that allow the species to
recover further, while controlling potentially negative impacts.
Resolving conflict between farmers and wild boar through-
out Europe, northern, central and east Asia including Japan is
the subject of Chapter 32, by Bogusław Bobek, Jakub Furtek,
Nikolay Markov, Dorota Merta, Marta Wojciuch-Płoskonka,
Michał Wójcik, and Ulf Hohmann. One of the major impacts
of wild boar populations is their destructive interactions with
agricultural crops. This chapter outlines the problems and sug-
gests mitigation strategies. This type of conflict is often exacer-
bated in areas adjacent to protected areas, where wild boar may
be protected as part of the natural ecosystem. Beatrice Frank
tackles this problem in Chapter 33, on the human dimensions
of wild boar and the need to include people in decision-making
processes. Clearly, if populations are protected on one side of a
boundary and causing serious damage on the other, there will be
both human–wildlife and human–human conflicts.
Chapter 34, by Marcel Amills Eras, Hendrik-Jan Megens,
Arianna Manunza, Sebastián E. Ramos-Onsins, and Martien
Groenen, provides a fascinating perspective on wild boar
demography and evolution by taking a genomic approach. Sus
scrofa likely originated around 5 million years ago in South East
Asia. Their ability to thrive in the variety of habitats found from
Western Europe to the Far East suggests an amazing adaptability.
Using whole-genome sequence data, the authors have helped to
document the complex process of suid speciation in South East
Asia. Of all the species to evolve in South East Asia, why was Sus
scrofa able to disperse and colonize almost the entire expanse of
the Eurasian landmass? This chapter suggests a ‘stepping-stone’
model out of South East Asia beginning almost a million years
ago. Increasingly, humans have directly impacted that evolution
and dispersal through domestication, over-hunting, habitat
loss, and restocking of populations.
Ferran Jori, Ariane Payne, Richard Kock, Alessandra Nava,
Karl Ståhl, and Sophie Rossi discuss disease transmission at the
interface between wild and domestic Suiform species in the Old
and New World in Chapter 35. Both pigs and peccaries are sus-
ceptible to a range of diseases, but the details for any given spe-
cies are often sketchy. This chapter outlines the major diseases
of important species in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Clearly, the transmission of these diseases between wild and
domestic populations can be a major problem. Similarly, dis-
eases form an additional challenge for endangered species of
wild pigs and peccaries.
The ecological impact of wild boar in natural ecosystems
is further explored in Chapter 36, by Peter V. Genov, Stefano.13:06: