Fears ‘super pigs’ could invade US states – and it’s not easy to eradicate them
Experts in the US fear a rising number of “super pigs” that are proving tough to eradicate could invade northern states.
As a cross-breed combining the Eurasian boar’s survival skills with the size and fertility of domestic swine in Canada, the “super pig” is described as an “ecological train wreck”.
Professor Ryan Brook, one of Canada’s authorities on the issue, added they are the “most invasive animal on the planet”, with the swine capable of spreading disease and devastating crops and wildlife.
“Nobody should be surprised when pigs start walking across that border, if they haven’t already,” Professor Brook said.
“The question is: what will be done about it?”
Northern states like Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana are taking steps to stop the invasion, but it isn’t easy to control the spiralling population.
The pigs are smart and furry, giving them the edge to survive Canadian winters, and they reproduce extremely quickly.
One sow can have six piglets in a litter and raise two litters in a year – which means that even if authorities managed to eliminate 65% of the population each year, they’d still grow.
And hunting could make the problem worse, according to Professor Brook, with the success rate for hunters only about 2- 3%.
The pigs are described as the most invasive animal on the planet. Pic: St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
Several states have also banned hunting because it makes the pigs more wary and nocturnal, which makes them tougher to track down.
Instead, methods under consideration are ground traps – like the so-called “BoarBuster” – or net guns fired from helicopters.
Some states have also adopted crowdsourced “Squeal on Pigs” tracking programs, while scientists have studied poisons such as sodium nitrite, but they risk harming other species.
“The only path forward is you have to be really aggressive and you have to use all the tools in the toolbox,” Professor Brook said.
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Pigs already cost $2.5bn (£1.98bn) in damage to crops in the US each year, mostly in southern states.
They have also, on occasion, been known to attack humans, with one woman killed in Texas in 2019.
The animals are not native to North America, but have roamed there for centuries.
The problems in Canada date back to the 1980s, when farmers were encouraged to raise wild boar, before the market collapsed in 2001 and some frustrated farmers simply set the animals free.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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