Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses wildlife overabundance using the case of wild boar in Central Europe and the African Swine Fever epizootic. The contrast between attention to livestock and wildlife health will be discussed in relation to agricultural development, industrial capitalism, and climate change.

Paper long abstract:

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is among the most widely distributed large mammals across the world. Their perceived overabundance in Europe has recently raised serious concerns over human-wildlife conflict and emergent pathogenic ecologies. Feral pigs and wild boar are considered invasive in many areas where they have been introduced, but even in their native range in Europe the latter also gained the status of unwanted pests whose populations are highly regulated with hunting and control over reproduction (e.g. breeding wild boar was prohibited in the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Since the 1980s wild boar numbers grew rapidly in both rural and urban areas across Central Europe. The epidemic of African Swine Fever is expected to kill one-quarter of the world’s domestic pig population by the end of next year, thus, endangering the pork industry. This viral disease endemic to Central Africa is neither infectious nor dangerous to humans, but it spreads among wild boars and domestic pigs and is deadly for both swine. Wild boars are targeted with mass culls as suspected disease vectors. This paper discusses the idea of wildlife overabundance as a facet of the Anthropocene that stands in direct contrast to the concerns over species extinction and biodiversity loss. The contrast between attention to livestock and wildlife health will be discussed in relation to agricultural development, industrial capitalism, and climate change. Thinking with wild boar, and the long history of human-porcine relations, helps to reconceptualize the effects of the Anthropocene on species biopolitics.