Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore the phenomenon of biological introduction from the point of view of its temporal and dynamic aspect, based on the case of the European wild boar (Sus scrofa) in the Pampa biome of Southern Brazil

Paper long abstract:

Several criticisms on the notions of 'biological invasion' and 'invasive alien species' stress the spatial character of these concepts, in the sense that each biological species is identified as naturally belonging to a particular geographical domain. Drawing on the ideas developed by Tim Ingold (2000), Gary Backhaus (2005) and others on the temporal dynamics of landscape formation, this paper will explore the hidden and rarely mentioned temporal aspects of biological introductions, focusing on the reactions raised by the presence of European wild boars (Sus scrofa) and its crossbreedings with domestic pigs in the Pampa biome of Southern Brazil.

The pampean landscape will be described as the contingent product of a set of more-than-human entanglements, whose formation and perdurance is linked to the lifecycle of other eurasian animals as exotic as the wild boar, but considered as "native" by local people. The paper will show that these classifications are historically based and highly rooted on the traditional ways of managing the pampean landscape, as well as on a pervasive "pastoral ideology" (Galaty et al. 1990) that goes far beyond the natural/cultural and animal/human divide.