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WORLD NEWS Monday 28 deceMber 2020
Feral pigs flummox Puerto Rico, infiltrate communities

By DÁNICA COTO confinement while others
Associated Press were set free by their fami-
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico lies. While there are no of-
(AP) — Thousands of Viet- ficial numbers, Olivieri said
namese pot-bellied pigs he estimates there are now
are snorting and squeal- thousands of pigs roaming
ing their way across Puerto across Puerto Rico, with 67
Rico in what many fear has of the island’s 78 municipal-
become an unstoppable ities reporting sightings.
quest to eat and repro- He said that while feral
duce on an island strug- hogs are a problem in the
gling to stop them. U.S. mainland, it is nowhere
They forage through gar- near the level of what’s
dens and farms, knock happening with the Viet-
over trash cans and leave namese pot-bellied pigs in
pungent trails of urine and Puerto Rico. There are no
excrement, stopping occa- species of pigs native to the
sionally to bathe if they find island, whose signature dish
potholes full of rainwater. is arguably lechón asado,
The former pets — or de- or roast pig, thanks to the
scendants of former pets Spaniards introducing the
— have reproduced at species in the early 1500s.
such an alarming rate that On a recent afternoon,
the U.S. territory declared a Feral Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs roam in the Cantera district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dec. 11, pigs of all sizes rummaged
health emergency last year 2020. Associated Press through piles of garbage
so federal officials could and mingled with roosters
start eradicating them. gia, Alabama and Florida U.S. Department of Agri- The problem started about and dogs in Cantera, a
It’s the latest non-native helped remove 500 pigs in culture’s Animal and Plant five years ago after people neighborhood in the capi-
species to invade com- four days last August, but Health Inspection Service. began buying the pigs as tal of San Juan that has
munities in Puerto Rico like the swine are so numer- “It was out of control,” he pets without knowing they long been neglected by
iguanas and caimans did ous and scattered that of- said of the hundreds of would grow to weigh 250 the government. Broken
before them, although ficials had to reconvene pigs concentrated in just pounds or more. Olivieri glass clinked beneath the
these are proving particu- and come up with a new one impoverished area in said the pigs multiplied af- tiny hooves of baby pigs as
larly hard to control and plan they launched several Puerto Rico’s capital. “We ter Hurricane Maria struck in they scurried about while
can’t be killed for food be- weeks ago, said Gustavo realized there were way September 2017 as a pow- sows stood their ground
cause they carry so many Olivieri, Caribbean district more animals than we an- erful Category 4 storm be- as nearby drivers slowed
diseases. Crews from Geor- assistant supervisor for the ticipated.” cause some escaped their down, some smiling.q
Hurricane-force winds up to 106 mph batter parts of Britain

LONDON (AP) — Hurricane- (129 kph). Flooding on the to be evacuated from a Across the Channel, near- according to the national
force winds reaching up tracks caused train cancel- flooded caravan park in ly all of France was under weather service and utility
to 106 mph (170 kph) and lations and delays in south- Northampton on Christmas storm warning Sunday, with services.
heavy rainstorms battered ern England, and a main Day as heavy rain flooded winds up to 90 mph (145 The storms have knocked
parts of Britain on Sunday, train line into London was the site. kph) registered at the top out electricity for at least
disrupting train services blocked by a fallen tree. Severe flood warnings in- of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 12,000 homes in Brittany,
and stranding drivers in In Wales, Western Power dicating a potential threat and heavy rains and gusts Normandy and other north-
floodwaters. said the storm caused pow- to life remain in the area. lashing the Atlantic coast, ern French regions.q
The Isle of Wight saw Storm er cuts for 21,000 homes.
Bella’s strongest gusts hit Most of the services were
106 mph, while parts of restored Sunday but 1,700
the south coast of England homes still had no power
and north Wales also saw supply.
gusts of around 80 mph Some 1,000 people had

A man and girl walk through the flood water, in Great Barford, in
Bedfordshire, England, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020.
Associated Press