Hunter cited in Press Herald article on forest-raised pigs
Malcolm Hunter, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Portland Press Herald article, “Trips to the woodlot can improve pork’s disposition.” Letting heritage breed pigs out of their pens, where they do not thrive, to roam in rotating fenced-in areas of forest gives them the opportunity to feast on nuts and berries, uproot invasive plants, devour rotting tree stumps and rejuvenate the woodlot ecosystem, according to the article. Wildlife specialists in Maine, however, are worried if forest-raised pigs escape, they could form a feral population, as has happened elsewhere in the United States, the article states. In Georgia, extensive areas of the forest floor look like they have been plowed due to the pigs’ rooting behavior, Hunter said. “If that happens in a couple woodlots, it is one thing; if it spreads across the landscape, that is another,” he said.