pigs

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the pigs on the farms fled into the forest. Years later they were something different

by

March 11, 2011 was one of the darkest days in Japan’s recent history. And probably the worst so far in the 21st century. An intense earthquake recorded off Honshu unleashed a tsunami with waves of more than ten meters that ended up precipitating an accident at the Fukushima plant. You have to go back to 1986, to Chernobyl, to find a similar incident. Today we know that that chain of misfortunes had an unexpected consequence: it gave rise to an involuntary experiment with pigs and wild boars. Pigs on the run. After the Fukushima Daiichi accident in March 2011, authorities rushed to evacuate all the people living in a radius of 20 kilometers of the nuclear power plant. Even those residing 20 to 30 km away were advised not to leave their homes. Today, a decade and a half later, we know that the Fukushima incident had another consequence: the pigs that until then were raised in domestic farms fled and took refuge in the forests, places that until then had served as home to wild boars. An XXL laboratory. The escape of the Fukushima pigs (and their clash with the wild boar populations) could have remained a minor anecdote if it were not for the fact that it gave rise to a curious improvised experiment. An involuntary one, which no one had planned, but which, due to the chances of history, ended up turning the forests of the exclusion zone into a gigantic zoological laboratory. The reason? Escaped pigs and wild boars ended up mating. “Without repeated introductions and minimal human activity, the region became a rare natural hybridization experiment,” explains Fukushima University. The experience was certainly interesting enough to attract the attention of Shingo Kaneko and Donovan Anderson, from Hirosaki, who decided to carry out a genetic study to better understand the results of crossing pigs and wild boars. Their conclusions have just been expressed in a published article a few days ago in the magazine Journal of Forest Research. What did they find out? Perhaps the most surprising has to do with the renewal of populations. Domestic pigs and wild boars differ not only in their appearance. They also show different patterns. For example, while the latter reproduce once a year, the former, the pigs we raise on farms, show a much faster cycle throughout the year. Kaneko’s study shows that this peculiarity of domesticated animals was maintained after their escape and was transmitted during hybridization through the mother. five generations. There is one piece of information that helps to better understand how accelerated its reproduction rate has been. For their study, the researchers analyzed the mitochondrial DNA and genetic markers of more than 200 animals captured over three years, between 2015 and 2018. One of the first questions they tried to clarify was: How related were these specimens to the pigs that escaped in 2011? How many came from that domestic lineage? Their conclusion was surprising: many hybrids were already more than five generations away from the original cross, suggesting “unusually rapid genetic renewal.” they add from Fukushima University. “Although it has previously been suggested that hybridization between pigs reintroduced into the wild and wild boar could contribute to population growth, this study shows, by analyzing a large-scale hybridization event following the Fukushima nuclear accident, that the rapid reproductive cycle of domestic pigs is inherited through the maternal lineage.” A diluted inheritance. It was not the only conclusion that the experts reached. Another, just as curious, is how hybrid creatures evolved. That domestic females favored a higher rate of reproduction does not mean that their inheritance was more pronounced. Quite the opposite. Farm sows energized generational renewal, but the initial strength of their genes was diluted little by little. “Rather than prolonging the genetic influence of domestic pigs, maternal pig lineages actually accelerated genetic turnover in wild boar populations,” apostille from Fukushima. Why is it important? The research is not interesting only for what it reveals to us about the Fukushima exclusion zone. Their conclusions go further and have practical implications for the rest of the world. Experts have long been concerned about hybridization between domestic and wild animals (especially between pigs and wild boars) due to its ecological repercussions. Curiously, the accident that occurred in Japan in 2011 has offered researchers a huge laboratory to better understand the phenomenon and how to address it. “The findings can be applied to wildlife management and invasive species damage control strategies,” Kaneko celebrates. “By understanding that the pig’s maternal lineage accelerates generational turnover, authorities can better predict the risks of population explosion.” Images | Max Saeiling (Unsplash), Wikipedia and Fukushima University In Xataka | An unprecedented experiment is happening in Ukraine: bombs have turned dogs into other animals

In medieval Europe, not only humans ended up on the gallows. Other criminals were also executed: the “murderer” pigs

by

For centuries, medieval Europe It was a place where justice was dispensed not only in the courts, but in the squares, in full view of everyone, with public rituals designed to repair order when someone broke it in an intolerable way. At that time, the fear of the unforeseeable did not come only from armies, plagues or famines, but also from what moved through the streets and corrals. In the France Medieval times, for example, the public ritual of punishment (carriage amidst mockery, solemn sentence and execution before the community) did not always have a human as the protagonist: sometimes, the condemned was a pig. The image, which today seems like an oddity from a black chronicle or a folkloric exaggeration, was real enough to leave repeated documentary traces: animals led as prisoners, hung upside down until they died and treated, in practice, as perpetrators responsible for a crime that had broken the social balance. The pig as a real threat The frequency of these cases is better understood by remembering that the medieval world lived attached to animals and their risks. Pigs, in particular, were useful because they ate everything and could feed on scraps, but that same omnivorous condition made them dangerous if they roamed free near small children. The records collect numerous episodes in which pigs killed and even devoured children, a violence that today clashes with the modern image of the docile and slow animal, but which was then associated with specimens closest to the wild boar: fast, strong and capable of imposing themselves physically in seconds. Medieval archives collect cases like the one from 1379when a group of pigs in Saint-Marcel-lès-Jussey killed the son of a swineherd, or the from 1386 in FalaiseNormandy, where a sow destroyed a child who ended up dying. Also that of 1457 in Savigny, Burgundywhen little Jehan Martin was killed by a sow and, especially disturbingly, his six piglets were found nearby, stained with blood. They were not vague rumors, but stories that were fixed with names and placesand that fueled the need for a public response that was not limited to a simple private loss. In France, these events often led to in judicial proceedings formalities in which the animal was imprisoned, transferred and executed as if it were a common criminal. Sources talk about expenses registered normally (cart, prison, executioner even brought from Paris) and an administrative routine that suggests that, for the people of that time, it was not an absurd spectacle, but a legitimate mechanism of justice. The strangeness, therefore, was not that there was violence, but rather that the violence was channeled through a trial with the appearance of ordinary procedure. When money is not enough A practical explanation of these processes was that medieval justice tended to seek reconciliation between partiesand many disputes could be resolved with compensation or agreements. But when a child death came into the picture, that logic was broken: the damage was too serious and the money could be insufficient to close the social wound. In that context, the court intervened to “take control” of the conflict, separate it from private revenge and offer an institutional solution that would distribute the emotional and political burden of the outcome. Trials also functioned as a form of organize the story: It was not just about punishing the animal, but about clarifying human responsibilities. If a pig was known for being dangerouswhy was he allowed to loiter near children? Was there negligence on the part of the owner? a chain of negligence? There was even a suggestion of the possibility of darkest questions: if the child was “unwanted”, if he or she was deliberately left in a risky situation or if the accident hid an intention. The court, by intervening, not only imposed a penalty, it produced an official explanation that the community could accept. Sometimes, the local machinery was not the last word and the matter escalated towards higher authorities. In the case of 1379, some of the accused pigs belonged to an abbey, and from there a petition was sent to Duke Philip “the Bold” requesting clemency. They defended that their animals had not participated and that they were “well-behaved pigs.” The duke heeded the request and issued a pardon for the animals of the abbey, showing that these processes, strange as they may seem, were inserted in real networks of power, influences and political decisions. Far from being simple superstition or peasant rage, these executions could serve to assert authority. The right to erect a gallows and execute criminals it was a privilegeand taking a case to the end allowed a local lord to exhibit the ability to punish and control order. There are episodes that reinforce that reading: a pig murderer from the 15th century it remained imprisoned five years before being executed, and formal letters were sent for permission to build a gallows. When the duke finally agreed, the triumph was not only symbolic: in addition to showing power, the lord stopped carrying the practical cost of keeping the animal imprisoned and feeding it. Plus: another key is the medieval vision of reality as a logical system created by godwith animals destined to serve humans. For a pig to devour a child was an unbearable investment of that order, a rupture of hierarchies that demanded public reparation. In that mental framework, the trial and execution were not theater: they were a way of “putting back together” what had been broken, of affirming that the world still had rules and that chaos, even when it came from an animal, could be put back into place by a solemn act of justice. Image | Ernest Figueras, Zoe Clarke In Xataka | The Middle Ages were not as dark as they told us In Xataka | 900 years ago, Europe had its own Manhattan: the impressive skyscrapers of more than 100 meters of Bologna

Spanish pigs are at their limit

by

On November 25, a wild boar appeared dead very close to the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Three days later, the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Algete (Madrid) confirmed the worst: African swine fever was back. Today there are more than 60 positives, a state of permanent psychosis and a drop in pork prices (and margins) like no one remembered. And no farm has tested positive. But we already knew it wasn’t necessary. It was only enough for one region to suffer an outbreak for numerous export contracts to be blocked. That is what has brought down prices: the Union of Farmers and Ranchers Unions estimates losses of 153 million euros and there is already talk of a 40% drop in the margin. These are figures from the producers, of course. However, it fits with the public ones: Mercolleida, the live pig has reached a price of around €1/kg. a month ago, after the worst price drop in 30 years, the price was 1.20. The worst thing, however, is that (at the consumer level) the price of meat it has barely gone down. What do we do now? Because let’s not fool ourselves, the pressure does not come only from the “health risk” (a very small one); It comes from the systemic problem: restricted zones, logistical costs, certificates and exports suspended in limbo. Going down from one euro to the kilo is (above all) something symbolic: the symptom that we have not managed to weather the storm and the imbalances in one of our star sectors are accumulating. The moment of truth of the Spanish pig. In recent months, we have seen how the agricultural sector is experiencing one crisis after another: when they are not the problems linked to the confinement of birds due to bird flu, are the problems in the pasture either lack of water. Today, Spain is the undisputed leader in European pork, the third largest producer worldwide. A giant who, as we usually repeathas feet of clay. We can see it by focusing only on one of its main problems: generational change. Thousands of farms are on the brink of disappearance simply because no one wants to take charge of them every time the owner retires. This crisis comes at its worst moment. Image | Benjamin Lehman In Xataka | In a country with almost as many pigs as people, the worst that can happen is that investment funds take over

The most farmed animal on the planet is not chickens, pigs, cows or fish: it is prawns.

by

Christmas is a time of carols, millions of led lightsnougats, empachos and a particular culinary ‘lore’ in which prawns and prawns are not usually missing. If tomorrow you have the opportunity to taste them during New Year’s Eve dinner, think about the following: what you have before you, on the plate, They are unique animals for humanity. And they are for a very simple reason. There is no other species that we raise more massively, not even chickens. There are those who estimate that approximately 51% of all animals What we have on ‘farms’ are precisely decapods, especially prawns. Prawns galore. If these days (lucky you) you have the opportunity to enjoy a good tray of prawns you should know a couple of things. The first one there are two typesdepending on their origin: there are wild prawns, caught in the ocean and the coasts; and those from aquaculture, which come from specialized farms and play a crucial role to supply the market. These fish farms are also interesting for another reason: they represent the largest farms in the world, at least if we are based on the number of living animals they contain. There are many (many) more breeding animals in them than in farms specializing in chickens, pigs, cows or even insects and fish. Click on the image to go to the tweet. But are there so many? This is what he suggests a study from 2023 that a few months ago rescued in Asterisk Magazine Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla, former investment expert and co-founder of Shrimp Welfare Project (SWP), an organization dedicated precisely to promoting more ethical decapod breeding practices. The report estimates that the planet’s fish farms usually host around 230 billion of these creatures at any given time. To be more precise, between 150,000 and 370,000 million, which exceeds any other known farm animal estimate. Even, the authors clarify, insects. “440 billion (300-620 billion) farmed shrimp are slaughtered each year, far exceeding the number of the most numerous farmed vertebrates used for food production, such as fish and chickens,” specify the articlesigned by Daniela R. Waldhorn and Elisa Autric and published in August 2023 by Rethink Priorites. The photo is completed with the specimens that arrive our months from fishing at sea. Are there more figures? Yes. And they are striking. Although both authors acknowledge that today there is only “partial data”, there are studies that indicate that every year hundreds of thousands of decapods are grown in fish farms on the planet, especially prawns and shrimp, which represent more than 80% of the total. In their report (in English) Waldhorn and Autric generally speak of “shrimp”but when delving into the problems surrounding the aquaculture of these species, both authors provide some extra detail. For example, when listing the species with the highest number of deaths, they specifically cite the P. vannamei and P. monodon. The most correct In Spanish it is to speak of “prawns”, rather than “prawns”. A percentage: 51%. The figures for the aquaculture industry are overwhelming, but they are better understood when compared to those of other sectors dedicated to raising animals in captivity for consumption. Jiménez Zorrilla points out that, in generalregardless of the moment, prawns represent 51% of the total number of animals raised on farms. They are followed at a considerable distance by fish (23%), insects (19%), chickens (7%) and pigs and other livestock (< 1%). Translated into figures, this means that compared to the 230 billion shrimp and prawns that (on average) live in fish farms, there are ‘only’ 779 million pigs and 1.55 billion cattle, 33 billion chickens and 125 billion farmed fish. In case the data were not clear in itself, the activist points out that every year 440,000 million of these decapods are slaughtered for consumption, “more than four times the number of humans who have walked the Earth.” Why is it important? Because Jiménez Zorrilla, like Wadhorn and Austric in their day, do not limit themselves to probing the size of the industry. Its objective is not so much to answer the question of how many shrimp live in the world’s farmers as to draw attention to the conditions in which they develop. “The problem is larger in scale than that of insect farming, fishing or any vertebrate for human consumption,” researchers warn. “If these animals are sentient, current commercial practices pose serious welfare risks during cultivation, handling, sale and slaughter.” Image| Kawê Rodrigues (Unsplash) Via | DAP In Xataka | Prawns, prawns, shrimp, prawns and carabineros: how they differ and which ones are better

2,000 people will live like guinea pigs

by

One of the most tourist points in Japan It is Mount Fuji. Such is the fascination that awakens that Japan decided to charge to climb the top with the aim of curbing the massification, and even They ruined the famous photo placing a huge fence. At the foot of the iconic place there is not only Traditional villagesbut also the City of the future. From the future of Toyota, at least, since it is where the Japanese automotive decided to create a city-laboratory called ‘Toyota Woven City ‘. And after years of works, in September the ‘Phase 1’ of the development of the next brand technologies will start. Phase 1. With brushstrokes given in the 2018 CES, with more details offered two years later and with the works of the ‘Phase 1’ finished at the end of last year, Toyota is finalizing the details so that his ‘Woven City’ begins to roll. Located next to the plant Higashi-Fuji of the company, in the prefecture of Shizuoka in Japan, through a release They have defined the plant as “a platform to expand the concept of mobility beyond transport.” After many preparations, the starting point of that ambitious plan will take place on September 25. And, although Toyota carries the singing voice, in Woven City there will be other companies that will work to achieve that end of “reinvent mobility” Coworking. Toyota, like many other companies, is known for a specific product -in this case, cars -but has a lot of subsidiaries and pàrtes of the group that are dedicated to supporting other industries. Many of them will settle in Woven City, but in their laboratories there will also be space for others that, a priori, have little to do with that goal of enhancing mobility in everyday life. Two recent examples are interstellar technologies, which is dedicated to the manufacture and development of both rockets and satellites, and Kyoritsu Seiyaku, a corporation that develops, manufactures and imports veterinary medications. Previously, It was already announced That Daikin – AIRs conditioned – would also be in Woven City (and may make sense because there is still no air conditioning systems), but also others such as Dydo Drinco (soft drinks and other drinks), UCC Japan Co.known for his instant noodles). Laboratory. In total, and counting companies from the Toyota group, at the moment there are 19 companies that will develop their proposals within Woven City. At the moment, it seems a bit abstract, but Toyota sees this installation as a “living laboratory” in which to try advanced mobility technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, connectivity and sustainability In a real urban environment. That is, instead of caught the streets of a city to do tests, they have raised their own, fed by solar energy and something that the company put Very interest in the past: Hydrogen fuel cells. We could say that it is a “prototype city”, and its dimensions are considerable. Enormous. In total, and when the different construction phases are finished, it is estimated that Woven City has about 294,000 square meters of surface. We have already commented that the buildings will be fed by solar panels located on the roofs and by the aforementioned hydrogen batteries, but will also be surrounded by Hydroponic cropswhich are the plants that take the nutrients of mineral solutions and not of the agricultural soil. All buildings are connected by tunnels, where autonomous vehicles such as the cast circulate City. For the design of the city, they have taken into account three types of streets, differentiated according to the speed of vehicles that can circulate through them and the type of mobility. For example, there are streets for fast vehicles, others for personal mobility and also pedestrian areas, all of them distributed forming an “organic” pattern. And that mobility will be through completely autonomous vehicles and zero emissions. Many companies are opting for the creation of huge campuses in which to house thousands of workers. Huawei’s are an example, With a huge one and another that Imitate the architecture of several European citiesbut when we talk about the city of Toyota, we literally refer to a city. Apart from the laboratories in which the new forms of mobility and energy for the city of the future are designed, in the Woven City will live people. In phase 1 it is estimated that some 360 people will live among Toyota employees and their families. They will do it in houses created with ‘Japandi’ style (a Combination between Nordic and Japanese) equipped with advanced support and domestic robotics support and robotics technologies, and the objective is that the city houses some 2,000 people once all phases are completed. Phase 2. The company’s desire is to test in a scenario as real as possible (although carefully designed and away from what traditional cities can offer) the most leading technologies in mobility, sustainability and urban planning. And, taking what has been learned in the ‘Phase 1’, at some point a new phase will begin that will not only increase the population, but will also expand or perfect the built environment. And in 2026 The doors will open to visit the city and that other people outside the project offer their opinions about the model. It is a tremendously ambitious goal and the brand does not expect that Be profitable In the first years, since it takes it more as a technological incubator for the planning of the cities of the future than something that offers an immediate return. Images | Toyota In Xataka | The Line goes regular, so Saudi Arabia has asked some consultants to solve the obvious: if it makes sense

sell more pigs in China

by

There is no war without collateral effects. AND Commercial They are no exception. In full climb of the tariff pulse between the US and China, with Gravel crossings of more than 100% to their exports and the uncertainty of how these rates will affect the Milmillonario Comercio Between both countries, the Spanish pig sector seems to have encountered an unexpected “Window of opportunity”. The reason? The US is a relevant supplier of pork for China, but from now on it will be penalized by tariffs, leaving an important (and tempting) hollow in the Asian market. And Spain already It has moved token (with agreements to the highest level) to expand your presence in Chinese butchers. A percentage: 125%. At the end of last year, when Trump (then still elected president) already loved the tariffs to China, Canada or Mexico, from Beijing They launched a notice To navigators: “No one wins a commercial war.” Months later already waiting to see how the tariff pulse evolves, time seems to prove him right. Washington has raised 145% (including 20% for fentanyl) The rates imposed on Chinese exports to the US while the Xi Jinping Executive has reacted by increasing its own to the goods “Made in USA “ 125%. A sector: the pig. This crossing of encumbrances has made the commercial war (extendable to other countries) be intensified between Washington and Beijing, with derivations to multiple sectors. Among all there is one that Spain looks with special interest: pig. The reason is very simple. China is A huge producerbut also a great market that matters every year hundreds of thousands of tons and mobilizes thousands of millions of dollars. And to show a button: according to Reuters, in 2023 China received pork (including casquery) by value of 6,000 million. In that generous flow of swine merchandise to the Chinese market, the US plays a relevant role. The forecasts for 2024 passed through the US It was consolidated as one of the large pork exporters worldwide, with a global flow of 3.24 million of metric tons. In one of its latest balances, US Meat Exportation (USMEF) states that, although last year pork exports to China/Hong Kong descended 6%, they exceeded the 467,200 tonswith a value of approximately 1,140 million dollars. One question: And now what? The big question after the application of 125% tariffs to US exports to China and the battery of Bureaucratic countermeasures displayed by Beijing is … how will they affect that flow of pork directed to the Chinese market? Will it remain competitive or leave a hole? The question is specially interested in other great producers who have already managed to get a place in the butchers of the Asian giant, such as Brazil or the EU. And within the latter Spain stands out. This same week AHDB published A report In which he points out that in 2024 China imported 1.06 million tons of pork, 31% less than the previous year, and about 1.15 million tons of “spoils” (casquería), the latter product and has grown up 4% interannual. According to their data, among the great exporters include the EU-27 (with a key weight from Spain), Brazil and the United States. A country: Spain. As Publish today The country The scenario that have opened the trade war and the 125% tariffs applied by Beijing to the US interests, and much, the Spanish pig sector. After all, the Asian market knows well and in the past it has demonstrated its ability to work on it with figures much higher than the current ones: in 2020, after China had to Sacrifice a good part From his cabin for an outbreak of swine fever, Spain triggered his export there until he added a record volume, with an assessment of 3,117 million of euros, according to The country. Since then the flow of Spanish pig exports to China was reduced in a sensitive way until it was around 1,066 million of euros in 2024. Different factors have entered at stake, such as The general fall in pork imports in China coinciding with the recovery of the Chinese cabin or the increase in the Spanish pig for the impact of the Ukraine War (influenced the cost of feeding the cattle) or the effects of the Swine respiratory syndrome nationally. A advice: “Be attentive”. With that backdrop, the sector sees with a special interest both the tariffs from China to the United States and The steps Qua is already giving Spain to recover land in the Asian market. A few days ago the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain and the General Administration of Chinese Customs signed a protocol for the export of pigs that, In the words of the Moncloa“It will allow expanding the list of authorized products that are exported from Spain.” “You have to be attentive to the opportunities that arise in this changing future. The export protocol signed on Thursday is another sign that China wants to open its market to new suppliers,” Guiseppe Aloisio reflectsGeneral Director of the National Association of Meat Industries of Spain (ANICE). Although it assumes that part of the hole will probably be assumed by Brazil, it also believes that the new scenario can open an “opportunity sale” to Spain. A but: demand for dumping. Not everything is opportunities and advantages. And not only for the interest of other great producers such as Brazil (or even Russia) in the Chinese pig market. Maybe Spain and China have approximate positions in recent days, but it does not so much the prospects of the European (and Spanish) pig sector were tarnished by another Beijing movement: The investigation Open in 2024 to EU imports for the suspicions of unfair competition, a movement that was once interpreted as a replica to The decision of Brussels of Apply tariffs To Chinese electric cars. The key is whether with the beginning of the commercial war that process has gone to the background. “Research Antidumping They are framed in a new … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.