![\"Bornean](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/75850341f78baa3d4930d123384b5bdb9651c338\/0_0_5850_3900\/master\/5850.jpg?width=750&dpr=1&s=none\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>In Borneo, the loss of bearded pigs is already having an enormous impact on cultures and communities that depend on them for food. Local studies suggest bearded pigs once accounted for 81% of hunted wildlife by weight in some villages. Now, that number is closer to zero. \u201cIt\u2019s a food security issue and a poverty issue. People are just fully dependent on access to wild and feral pigs for their protein needs,\u201d said Meijaard.<\/p>\n
The disappearance of this key protein source puts pressure on other species: in the absence of pigs, millions of local people were likely to shift their focus to hunting endangered species such as pig-tailed macaques, the scientists warned.<\/p>\n
The loss of wild pigs can also affect the ecosystem as a whole. Bearded pigs disperse the seeds of trees as they eat fruits and migrate large distances, defecating them out throughout the forest. They also turn over soil with their snouts, which cleans undergrowth and gives tree roots access to more soil nutrients. The forests of Borneo are among the world\u2019s most diverse ecosystems, but only 50% remain as a result of decades of logging and expansion of farmland, particularly palm oil plantations.<\/p>\n
The scientists called for urgent research and interventions, while acknowledging the impacts on communities. The focus should be urgently to prevent the spread of ASF to other regions, the letter recommended.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough African swine fever has garnered substantial attention in countries with major pork industries, its effects in Borneo have been largely overlooked,\u201d researchers wrote. \u201cThe loss of pigs disrupts food security and ecosystems and threatens other endangered wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trials for creating an effective vaccine have showed positive results, but this would be more effective for domestic pigs. Vaccinating wild pigs would be \u201clogistically hugely complex and expensive to implement\u201d, said Prof Benoit Goossens from Cardiff University, another author of the letter.<\/p>\n
James Wood, an epidemiologist from the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the letter, said it raised important questions about the global narrative of wild pigs being vectors of disease, and therefore a threat to the domestic pig industry. He said: \u201cThe authors describe, in contrast, how wild pig species, which in Borneo and other south-east Asian islands are central to both the culture and nutrition of many different peoples, are being devastated by ASF virus, which has been spread around the world by human-mediated movement of pigs and pig products.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll efforts should be made to prevent the further spread of ASF between south-east Asian islands, in particular through trade in pigs and pig products, as the effects there can be far worse than just in the swine industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Harriet Bartlett from University of Oxford, who was not involved in the paper, agreed that the effects of the disease had been focused on the pig industry. \u201cExpanding our focus beyond the immediate economic concerns to include the broader ecological and societal implications will be important to effectively address ASF,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n