Scientists made the first images in the wild of one of the rarest and ugliest pigs in the world.
Javanese barodawala pig is under threat of extinction due to hunting and loss of habitat, scientists believed that this species may have already disappeared.
Camera traps showed that small populations in the forests of the island of Java survived. Researchers believe that now their goal is to protect the habitat of these rare animals. Johanna Kind-Margono from Chester zoo, who participated in the study, says she and her colleagues were delighted when we discovered these pigs. A recent study of these low-lying forest lands was conducted in 2004 and revealed a “serious decline” of the species.
“We were afraid that all these animals just disappeared disappeared,” said Kind-Margono in an interview.
Though these hairy, warty beasts are not the most photogenic inhabitants of Java, they perform an important role in forest ecology — loosen the soil and sow the seeds of the fruit that they feed. Java is the most populous island of Indonesia, so the pigs are losing their habitat because of the increase in agricultural land and urban growth. In addition, the animals destroy the crops of the farmers, which they often hunt.
© 2017 – 2019, paradox. All rights reserved.
