Mutant 'super pigs' develop new abilities in nuclear fallout zone

Domestic pigs escaped into abandoned farmland after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and bred with wild boar in the exclusion zone. Offspring inherited a rapid, year-round reproductive cycle from domestic pigs, enabling populations to multiply faster than normal wild boar. Researchers warned that this trait could help explain how invasive “super pig” populations spiral out of control, damaging crops, disrupting ecosystems, and overwhelming native wildlife. The same genetic mechanism may be emerging elsewhere where feral pigs and wild boar interbreed. Maternal lineages showed lower domestic pig DNA than expected, indicating unusually fast generational turnover. Feral pigs are highly destructive invasive animals, causing major agricultural and environmental damage, including in the United States.

"Researchers discovered that the offspring inherited the domestic pig's rapid, year-round reproductive cycle, allowing populations to multiply far faster than those of normal wild boar. Scientists warned the trait could help explain how invasive 'super pig' populations spiral out of control, devastating crops, destroying ecosystems and overwhelming native wildlife."

"The findings also suggested the same genetic mechanism could already be emerging in other regions around the world where feral pigs and wild boar are interbreeding. To their surprise, hybrids carrying pig maternal lineages showed far lower levels of domestic pig DNA than expected, suggesting generations were turning over at an unusually fast pace."

"Feral pigs are considered one of the world's most destructive invasive species because they tear through crops, spread disease, destroy native habitats and prey on smaller wildlife. In the US alone, invasive wild pigs are estimated to cause billions of dollars in agricultural and environmental damage every year."

"The Fukushima disaster was triggered by a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated northeastern Japan and shifted parts of Honshu, the country's main island, several feet eastward. The earthquake launched tsunami waves more than 130 feet high, destroying the homes of 450,000 people and sending several nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into meltdown."

Read at Mail Online