Boar In The News – August 2011
Late July and August produced a plethora of boar news. Consequently, this month's report will come in two parts. The second section will follow shortly.
Need for quality boar semen fuels international conference.
The 7th Boar Semen Conference was held from August 18 to August 20, 2011 at the Gustav-Stresemann-Institute (GSI) in Bonn, Germany in cooperation with the Zentralverband der Deutschen Schweineproduktion e.V.( Central Association of German Swine Producers) and the Friedrich Loeffler Institut Center for reproductive medicine, Lower Saxony.
The conference was designed to give participants the opportunity to exchange the latest information influencing the productivity and fertility of the working boar. Scientists and practioners from many countries of the world participated in this exchange of ideas. Among them Dr. Kilby Willenburg who presented new industry-changing research on predicting boar fertility using semen head shape analysis. This new method is expected to be a useful tool in the future.
Dr. Willenburg presented his new method in conjunction with ReproQuest Inc., an American producer of swine related reproductive products. Among the innovative products introduced at the conference was the new RQ800 packaging machine that is capable of packing up to 1800 doses of boar semen per hour.
Lucky boar.
Sixty domestic pigs turn into 350 wild pigs in the forest.
Only seven years after a farmer dumped sixty unwanted farm pigs into the Forest of Dean, England, their progeny now numbers at least 350 despite the fact that forest rangers have doubled the number of boar killed from year to year. Forest authorities argue that 250 wild pigs need to be killed in order to prevent a repeat of events in Germany where wild boar now openly roam the streets of many cities. The goal is to keep the number of boar in the Forest at or below 90. Chief ranger Ian Harvey warns that unless more boar are killed, property damage and attacks on dogs, horses and people will increase.
Others want to keep the boar. The Forester, local newspaper for the Forest of Dean, quotes naturalist David Slater:
"Foresters and tourists need to be educated not terrified when it comes to boar relations.”
Retorts chief wildlife ranger Ian Harvey:
"We don’t want to eradicate the boar, but we do need to keep their numbers down.”
Feeding Robin Hood and his band would have kept the boar down and the archers happy. Right?
Radioactive wild pigs roaming Japan.
According to an article published by the Mainichi Daily News on August 20, 2011 radioactive cesium “at a level over four times the government-set safety limit has been detected in the meat of a wild boar captured in Kakuda city, Miyagi Prefecture...” Radioactive contamination exceeding the safety limits was never found before in the area. Residents are asked not to eat meat from wild animals or birds.
“The meat of the boar, which local hunters caught in the mountains in Kakuda on Aug. 7 in response to a request by the city government to exterminate it, measured 2,200 becquerels of cesium per kilogram. The central government's provisional safety limit is 500 becquerels per kg”, states the newspaper.
FreeRepublic.com in Fresno, California , also re-printed this article.
Since we are talking about eating and food, this might be the right time and place to share with you verbatim a recipe circulated by ABC 7 News, The Denver Channel on August 21, 2011.
Wild Boar Sliders With Mango Salsa
“What You Will Need
4- 2oz patties ground wild boar
4 dinner rolls
Salsa
1 mango, diced
½ jalapeno, diced
½ red onion, diced
½ red bell pepper diced
Juice from 1 lime
Heat cast iron skillet with ½ tablespoon oil, place patties in to hot pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook each side for 4 minutes or until cooked though. Heat buns in toaster oven until warm. Place sliders on buns, top with mango salsa and serve.
Salsa: Combine all ingredients in medium size bowl, season with salt and pepper. Can be made 24 hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator.”
Halfway around the globe, Australia also has wild pig problems. Here is one of their ways to deal with the pesky critters.
This big porker is a corker
The Mackay Regional council rolled out its newest weapon in their fight against nuisance wild pigs:
It was a case of deja vu for Bruce the boar.
Bruce is a stuffed boar. He was on loan from the Department of Primary Industries to demonstrate a new pig trap designed and built by the Mackay Regional Council and its pest control officers. It can hold up to 20 pigs. Contrary to the previous traps that were heart-shaped, the new, improved contraption is rectangular in shape. It is easier to transport and can be placed around a tree. The tree provides the shade required by law for the protection of the trapped animals.
“There is a big issue with wild pigs in the area so we have come up with this design to try and help the landowners in Mackay to help trap their pigs. They just breed up in the area and come in because food is getting short out west so they are moving closer into town, says Laurie Warren, the Council's pest manager/coordinator.
“The pig season is going all year round here, they’re on cane at the moment, and when the cane finishes they will go onto the mangoes and then onto the guavas.”
At the moment it is really hard to get pigs in a trap, because they are in the cane, so we have to get them out of the cane to try and trap them, Warren continues.
See Warren and his buddy, ferocious Bruce.
Auction for a wild boar hunt.
PJJ
