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The Ossabaw Island hog or Ossabaw Island is a breed of pig derived from a population of feral pigs on Ossabaw Island, Georgia, United States. The original Ossabaw hogs are descended from swine released on the island in the 16th century by Spanish explorers. A breeding population has been established on American farms off the island, but they remain a critically endangered variety of pig. ==History== As the Spanish explored the coast of the Americas in the 16th century, livestock such as pigs were often left on islands as a future food source. This was the origin of the pigs that would become the Ossabaw breed. Over the following hundreds of years, the population of these feral pigs remained isolated on Ossabaw, which is one of the Sea Islands, barrier islands off the Georgia coast, and there was very little introduction of other domestic breeds.〔 Since 1978 the island has been owned by the State and managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as a preserve. The human population of the island was never high, and the pigs generally ranged freely over its entire acreage. Like feral pigs elsewhere in the world, those on Ossabaw have had an adverse effect on native habitat and species. The pigs are highly omnivorous, and will consume everything from roots and tubers to small reptiles and mammals. Ossabaw hogs have even been observed feeding on white-tailed deer entrails. Ossabaw Island hogs have been documented as having a negative impact on endangered species such as the loggerhead sea turtle and snowy plover, disturbing nests and eating eggs.〔 This, plus the varied other impacts they have on the ecosystem, have convinced the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to recommend the eradication of all feral swine via trapping, shooting and hunting by the public.〔 Aside from the environmental concerns posed by Ossabaw Island hogs, they are also recognized as a unique genetic resource by scientists and breed conservationists. They are thought to be the only U.S. breed which is descended from the Iberian-type pigs brought to North America by the Spanish. A very small breeding population of Ossabaw hogs are kept off the island by farmers who market them as a form of heritage pork, and there are also herds at several zoos, at Mount Vernon and at Colonial Williamsburg. Captive breeding populations were also previously kept by a few American universities for scientific study and conservation, but these herds were dissolved and have not contributed to the current bloodlines of Ossabaw hogs on the mainland today. Both the island and mainland populations continue to be considered vulnerable by the ALBC, Slow Food, and others.〔 The breed is listed as "critical" on the priority list of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ossabaw Island Hog )〕 and is also included in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalog of heritage foods in danger of extinction.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ossabaw Island Hog )〕 The population on the island is currently controlled by the methods advised by the DNR, and it is unclear how much longer the population will avoid eradication entirely. Due to the presence of vesicular stomatitis and pseudorabies on the island,〔 no more live pigs may be removed from the island. The mainland U.S. population kept by farmers is preserved because of interest from the sustainable agriculture movement. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ossabaw Island hog」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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