SANDAKAN – Only 20% of the wild boar population in Sabah has recovered since the African swine fever (ASF) virus was detected in November 2020, said Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga.
Despite no new ASF cases recently, he said no wild boar hunting licences would be issued this year.
“The population of wild boars in Sabah has not recovered. The number is still very small. People need to be patient. Hopefully, we will see a better recovery rate next year.
“We estimate that only 20% of the population has recovered. This is considered very small because we estimate we have lost at least 90% of the wild boar population in Sabah due to the ASF outbreak,” he told Scoop today.
Earlier this week, Sabah Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan was reported saying the ministry was considering lifting the ban on wild boar hunting.
He said smoked wild boar sellers along the Tambunan-Keningau stretch had stopped selling the dish, showing that people had been adhering to the restriction.
“The ban will be lifted after we are satisfied with the wild boar population.”
Kitingan had proposed implementing the “tagal” system, which is a native practice of prohibiting or limiting the exploitation of certain animals or natural resources.
ASF was first detected in Sabah after more than 30 carcasses were discovered in the state’s east coast between January and February 2021. The state declared its first ASF outbreak on February 20, 2021, after domestic pigs in Pitas were found to carry the disease.
The following month, the Sabah government urged the public to stop consuming wild boar. This was followed by the state Wildlife Department imposing a ban on hunting permits specifically for wild boars until ASF was under control.
ASF is fatal to pigs but harmless to humans.
After the ASF outbreak, environmentalists in Sabah said the population of bearded pigs must be allowed to recover as soon as possible, as the pigs played a vital role in maintaining the forest ecosystem. – May 3, 2024