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Brenda McDonald I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions

Still, even with control strategies in place, there's also not enough information yet to know what numbers are optimal i...
05/08/2024

Still, even with control strategies in place, there's also not enough information yet to know what numbers are optimal in different landscapes.

Hensel has researched the impact of wild hogs on plants in both salt and brackish marshes in the US, and has found that while wild hogs knock back competitive and dominant plants (with woody root systems), they also allow smaller plants to come in. Whether this is good or bad for brackish marshes, however, Hensel explains, "depends on what your interest is". Plant biodiversity can be good for insects and birdlife, but large amounts of woody biomass from dominant species can help sequester carbon and protect against coastal erosion in the face of worsening climate change.

So what is the optimal number of wild boar in an ecosystem and how should it be achieved? Current control strategies inc...
04/25/2024

So what is the optimal number of wild boar in an ecosystem and how should it be achieved?

Current control strategies include recreational hunting: in Louisiana, you can hunt them by helicopter; in Germany, there's a trend for daggers and spears. Plus there are also natural methods, such as the return of wolves or bears. But Brook is sceptical that either of these options will achieve much.

Sport hunting is not a viable option, Brook says. "Hunter success in western Canada is about 3% and in fact hunting makes the problem much worse because it breaks up sounder groups and spreads them around the landscape." The practice also makes them more elusive and nocturnal and gets "in the way of government-led control programmes". Nor does he believe predation can be relied upon, since he says wild pigs are mostly distributed in areas without wolves.

But what about in North America, where wild boar are not native? There is evidence to suggest feral pigs' benefits might...
04/12/2024

But what about in North America, where wild boar are not native? There is evidence to suggest feral pigs' benefits might still apply there too. Not just because they could be proxies for extinct species of peccaries, but because nativeness might not be a useful basis on which to judge their impact.

Jens-Christian Svenning from Aarhus University's DNRF Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere, is an expert on trophic rewilding. In a recent metanalysis of over 200 studies, the Danish scientist and others found no difference between the impacts on plants of native and introduced large herbivorous mammals. "Nativeness doesn't matter, but animal traits do," he says.

For Ryan Brook, professor at the University of Saskatchewan's department of animal and poultry science, "wild pigs are t...
04/01/2024

For Ryan Brook, professor at the University of Saskatchewan's department of animal and poultry science, "wild pigs are the worst invasive large mammal on the planet from a Canadian perspective". He and others cite the "tremendous" damage their rooting, wallowing and trampling has done to agricultural crops; as well as the threats they pose to livestock, endangered wildlife, disease transmission and water quality.

Brook's team have thus mapped the hogs' advance across Canada, and even identified what they call a "super pig" – a fast-breeding hybrid that is well-adjusted to cold climates. A group started by researchers, called "Squeal on Pigs", is now on the lookout for their spread across the border.

Hybridised feral pigs are considered an invasive pest in North America. But Europe's rewilding movement is rethinking th...
03/21/2024

Hybridised feral pigs are considered an invasive pest in North America. But Europe's rewilding movement is rethinking the roles that this spirited animal can play.

The pop superstar Shakira experiences many forms of attention; some wanted, some not, and some in the form of wild animals. In autumn 2020, while walking with her son in a Barcelona park, she faced the latter: an assault by a pair of bag-snatching wild boars. "They've destroyed everything," she later said of her boar-torn purse.
The singer's assailants are not uncommon in urban Europe. Once hunted at scale (and to extinction in the UK), the naturally reclusive wild boar is on the rise again across the continent. And, from the beaches of Marbella to the streets of Rome, they are also becoming increasingly bold; nosing their way into both handbags and headlines by biting backsides, accosting shoppers, and prompting curfews to protect residents. In Berlin recently, authorities believe one of the city's 3,000-5,000 "wildschwein" was even mistaken for a lion.

England have inadvertently created a problem.In the emergence of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley on the tour of India, Ben...
02/27/2024

England have inadvertently created a problem.

In the emergence of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley on the tour of India, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have raised the question of where the young spinners go next.

There is a decent chance neither will start the home season as first choice at their respective counties. Bashir, 20, will likely slot in behind Jack Leach at Somerset if England's number one recovers from knee surgery in time, while 24-year-old Hartley is about to be joined at Lancashire by Australia's Nathan Lyon, one of the greatest finger spinners of all time.

"It will be a slight frustration of ours if they weren't given opportunities at county level," said England coach McCullum.

"There's a very real possibility that might be the case, but without wanting to dictate to counties because they have their own agendas as well, when you see performances like we have out of those two bowlers, you'd be slightly mad if you didn't give them more opportunities in county cricket."

Shetland's Up Hella Aa fire festivals – which see Viking longships set ablaze – are just one manifestation of the strong...
02/07/2024

Shetland's Up Hella Aa fire festivals – which see Viking longships set ablaze – are just one manifestation of the strong Nordic influence on the remote archipelago.

It was 08:00 but the sunrise was only just beginning to blush the corners of the long January night in Lerwick, the capital of Scotland's Shetland archipelago. A couple of fireworks boomed overhead as a group of men passed around a hipflask of whisky – the best defence against the bone-chilling wind that rattles through the Shetland Islands like a poltergeist all winter.
There was a commotion behind the doors of a huge hangar-like shed, which swung open to reveal a vast wooden longship, 30ft from stern to prow, carved in the form of a fearsome dragon and painted a glacial blue. This was the galley, the ceremonial burning of which would happen later that night as the focal point of the festival of Up Hella Aa – a pyromaniac celebration of the return of the light after winter and an honouring of Shetland's proud Norse heritage.

Who What Wear fashion and shopping editor Remy Farrell gives us her insider recommendations for shopping in the UK capit...
12/27/2023

Who What Wear fashion and shopping editor Remy Farrell gives us her insider recommendations for shopping in the UK capital, during the holidays and beyond.

Ancient royal palaces, Georgian architecture and afternoon tea – London's glamour transcends mere city lights. Its shopping scene is no less thrilling, with lively retail areas like Carnaby Street and King's Road, vibrant street markets and historical department stores befitting queens.

To suss out the very best of the capital's high fashion, luxe homewares and, yes, even thrifty deals, we speak to Londoner Remy Farrell, fashion editor of the UK edition of celebrity and fashion site Who What Wear. "London just so happens to be one of the best cities in the world to shop in," said Farrell, who has lived here for nearly a decade. "[But] it always helps to go in with a plan… with the sheer amount of places to shop, you can find yourself wandering for hours."

To help you focus, here are Farrell's insider picks for the best buys in London.

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