African swine fever threatens to wipe out 12 wild pig species in Asia, disrupting ecosystems

Researchers warn that African swine fever could drive 12 endemic wild pig species in Asia to extinction, impacting tropical forests and local communities. The study outlines urgent strategies for surveillance, protection, and vaccine development amid the ongoing crisis.

African swine fever is no longer just a threat to pork production; researchers say it could push 12 of Asia’s endemic wild pig species towards extinction. That would reverberate through tropical forests, where these animals help shape seed dispersal, soil disturbance and wider ecological balance. The warning carries immediate implications for conservation budgets, livestock biosecurity and rural communities that rely on wild pigs for food and cultural value.

A study in Nature Reviews Biodiversity says the virus, which swept into China in 2018 and then across the region, has already caused near-total mortality in some wild pig populations. Species at risk include babirusas and the Celebes warty pig, both of which are important to Indigenous communities in parts of Indonesia.

Matthew Linkie, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s technical director and the study leader, said in a statement: “Asian wild pigs are disappearing at a pace few people realize, yet they are among the ecological foundations of much of the region’s tropical rainforest.”

The paper sets out an eight-point response: stronger surveillance, better protection in the wild, reduced contact between livestock and wildlife, expanded captive breeding, emergency funding and more vaccine research. The Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that Asia has already lost close to 5 million pigs to African swine fever, underscoring the disease’s scale and the business case for faster containment.

Reference: Rode-White, E.J., Mardhiah, U., Surya, S. et al. Pathways to recover Asian wild pigs from African swine fever. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. (2026).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-026-00198-2