Abstract:
In this article, we discuss some symbolic and social reactions to a biological invasion process carried by feral pigs of the species Sus scrofa (European wild boars and its hybrids with domestic pigs) in the Brazilian-Uruguayan border from an anthropological point of view. Based on connections established by local agents between boars and other entities of the landscape such as cattle rustlers, Australian eucalyptus and the South-African lovegrass (Eragrostis plana Nees), we suggest that feral pigs and their agencies are metonymic for broader socio-environmental tensionalities, which are in turn linked to the deep transformations the pampean landscape has undergone in the last decades. In this sense, we argue that the invasive species manifests broader tensions concerning labour relations and landownership, as well as it stands as the most recent manifestation of the slow decadence of extensive ranching on natural grasslands, formerly the very core of Southern Brazilian rurality.
Keywords:
biological invasion; Pampa; ranching; wild boar