Pig Genes in Pig-boar Hybrids in Fukushima Exclusion Zone Found to be Diminishing

Jul 05, 2021

By Bob Yirka

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Japan, and one in Norway has found evidence that suggests domesticated pig genes in pig-boar hybrids living in the Fukushima exclusion zone are diminishing. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their genetic study of tissue samples taken from wild boar, pigs and hybrids in the exclusion zone.

Back in 2011, Japan experienced its largest earthquake ever—that quake and the tsunami that followed led to a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The release of radiation from the plant forced people that lived and worked in the area to evacuate—officials soon declared the areas around the site an exclusion zone. In the absence of people, wild animals began to move into the area, including wild boars. Prior research has shown that as the wild boars moved in, some of them mated with abandoned domesticated pigs, producing hybrids. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if the addition of domesticated pig genes to the boar gene pool was having an impact on them.

To learn more, the researchers collected genetic material from 243 animals—some from within a 20-kilometer radius of the reactor, and some from within 40 kilometers. The team then conducted a mitochondrial analysis of the samples to identify the genes that each was carrying along maternal lines.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.