ASF pushing Visayan warty pigs to brink of extinction

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s biodiversity remains at risk as African swine fever (ASF) continues to threaten endangered pig species like the Visayan warty pigs and Philippine warty pigs, pushing them further to the brink of extinction.

The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) said ASF, a fatal hog disease but not harmful to humans, poses a “serious threat” to biodiversity, citing the detection of the disease in the Visayan warty pig, a critically endangered species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The status of the Visayan warty pig was assessed in June 2016 with the results published in 2017, according to the IUCN database. IUCN documents showed that the country’s current population of Visayan warty pigs is undergoing “drastic” population decline, estimated at more than 80 percent over a period of three generations (about 21 years).

The swine specie is considered endemic in the West Visayan Islands or the Negros-Panay Faunal region, particularly in the areas of Panay, Guimaras, Negros, Cebu, Masbate and Ticao Islands.

The Visayan warty pig (Sus cebifrons) is already under the IUCN’s red list of threatened species, indicating that the pig species is threatened by extinction.

The Philippine government confirmed the ASF infection of 24 Visayan warty pigs on June 15, 2023, resulting in the deaths of the identified cases. The pigs were located in Barangay 6, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, based on official state report to WOAH.

Furthermore, the government has also confirmed the infection of some Philippine warty pigs with ASF in 2021. The government recorded that 141 Philippine warty pigs in Hijo Forest Reserve, a natural park in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte, died from the fatal hog disease.

The Philippine warty pig (Sus philippensis) is also part of the IUCN red list of threatened species as of 2016 with the species being identified as vulnerable.

The latest IUCN assessment of Philippine warty pigs showed that its population in the country has undergone a population decline of more than 30 percent over a period of three generations or about 21 years.

The government has not confirmed or reported new cases of ASF affecting either Visayan warty pigs or Philippine warty pigs in the country.

However, there are currently active ASF cases in 45 barangays in 16 municipalities across five provinces in four regions nationwide as of May 23, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry.