Over The Horizon

Pig Party

Landcare Research wildlife ecologist Colin Clarke is using New Zealand electronics and dogs to save one of the world's rarest pigs from extinction.

Clarke is in the remote Filipino jungle tracking the few remaining Visayan warty pigs. He aims to capture a third of the remaining 30 pigs for a breeding programme. He is being helped by Marlborough hunter Carl Wilkinson and three top dogs, plus guides, porters and a military protection squad for the month-long expedition. The specially trained dogs will be monitored with Sirtrack radio tracking equipment developed by Landcare Research [Wired Wildlife, May 1992].

If the mission proves successful, the team could be used in operations to capture other rare pigs, such as the Indian pygmy hog.

Keith Lyons, Landcare