The Age of Pork

Domestic pigs were once thought to have gotten their start on farms in Eastern Asia, and from there, spread west throughout the eastern half of the world into Europe. However, according to a study by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, this was not the case. Apart from Asian and European pigs having unique physical characteristics, they found differences in their mitochondrial DNA that shows they both started independently from one another, then bred with each other to create hybrids much later. They estimate that they do share a common ancestor that eventually diverged approximately 500,000 years ago. The concept of the Asian and European pig being bred together is relatively new, about 200 years old, while the domestic pig has been around for almost 9,000 years. 

This was the extent of domestic pig travel up until the 1400s, when some of the world’s bravest explorers set out on their second 36 day expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. They packed their supplies on board for this long arduous journey, including cattle and European domesticated pigs. They weren’t fortunate enough to have the non-perishables we have today. Although, making fresh pork everyday doesn’t necessarily sound terrible, but living with them, that’s a different story. When they eventually landed in the Bahamas, the pigs were a reliable food source. They reproduced rapidly, having litters up to three times a year, and every pig reaches maturity at only six months. It was a no brainer to bring these foreign beasts. 

That is how they came over, but how did only eight pigs make such a huge impact on the Americas? A man no other than Hernando de Soto. Responsible for exploring most of the southeastern United States in the 1530s, he set out on a long journey about this new land, and of course had to take the pigs with him. By the time he died, he grew his drove of pigs from 7 to 700. Throughout his exploration, not having a handy fence to keep the pigs at bay, some inevitably wandered off to discover this new land on their own terms. It wasn’t until centuries later that we realized the impact this had on the “new world”. 

Pigs were outright destructive to the native crops, taking up their roots and plowing over plants with their hooves, a force of nature the native plants never had to encounter. The plants eventually developed deeper root systems so they could regrow, and were able to come back bigger and stronger to combat this new grazer. The resource of the new untouched vegetation was incomparable to what the pigs were being fed on a daily basis and allowed them to reproduce at an alarming rate. Since the 1530s, the small drove of 700 pigs has turned into 6 million feral hogs across the United States alone.