BRONX, NY, September 15, 2026—In a study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity, 31 scientists have produced the first comprehensive roadmap to prevent African swine fever (ASF) from driving Asia’s 12 endemic wild pig species toward extinction, identifying eight priority actions for governments and conservation organizations to protect one of the region’s most threatened groups of mammals.

Since ASF emerged in China in late 2018, the virus, which causes extremely high mortality in domestic and wild pigs, has spread across Asia, reaching every country in the region within two years. The losses to the pork industry have been well documented, estimated at $130–192 billion. Its toll on wildlife, ecosystems, and local communities has received far less attention.

Asia is a globally unique center of wild pig diversity, and because its 12 endemic species have had no prior exposure to the virus, infection has caused near-total mortality wherever it has struck. The stakes reach well beyond these rare endemics: wild pigs, including the more widespread Eurasian wild boar, disperse seeds, turn over soils, and provide a critical prey base for predators such as tigers and leopards. Wild pigs also underpin the food security and cultural traditions of many Indigenous peoples and local communities, such as Sunda bearded pigs on Borneo. ASF, the authors argue, has therefore evolved beyond an animal health issue into a broader conservation, livelihood, and food-system emergency.

Recent Red List reassessments by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) show how fast that threat is escalating: five of Asia's 12 endemic wild pig species are now listed as Critically Endangered and another as Endangered, with the rest yet to be formally assessed, though early signs suggest the outlook is no better.

“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,” said Dr. Matthew Linkie, WCS Technical Director, who led the study. “I can’t think of another threat that has pushed an entire group of mammals toward extinction this quickly. Protecting these species isn’t simply about preventing extinctions, it’s about safeguarding the ecological processes that sustain forests, wildlife, and the communities that depend on them.”

Dr. Eva Johanna Rode-White, Chair of the IUCN SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group and study co-author, noted that the roadmap gives governments and conservation organizations a practical path forward before more species are lost. “ASF infection has now been confirmed, or is strongly suspected, in at least six of Asia's endemic wild pig species,” said Rode-White. “Layered on top of existing pressure from habitat loss and hunting, the disease could tip several species past the point of recovery. For many island endemics, extinction within a single generation is now a real possibility, making captive breeding and other conservation safeguards increasingly urgent."

The Indonesian archipelago has become one of the front lines of this crisis, with ASF affecting Sulawesi's endemic babirusas and warty pigs, evolutionarily unique species found nowhere else on Earth. Babirusa males are famous for upper tusks that curve backward, in some cases growing back toward their own skull, a trait found in no other mammal species. 

“Indonesia is home to some of the world’s most remarkable wild pig species, many of which exist only on a single island,” said Dr. Noviar Andayani, WCS Indonesia Country Director and study co-author. “The rapid spread of ASF has dramatically increased the urgency of protecting these populations through continued close collaboration with government, local communities, and conservation organization partners.”

The roadmap’s eight priority actions span protecting wild populations, safeguarding species in captivity, and securing the funding and policy support needed for both. Three cannot wait: early-warning surveillance, expanded captive breeding, and emergency financing. Faster outbreak detection can help reduce transmission where domestic and wild pigs interact, with AI and citizen science offering valuable additional sources of surveillance. Captive breeding provides a critical last line of defense, but only five of the 12 species currently have ex situ populations, of which some are too small to provide long-term security. For species already in steep decline, the window to establish viable assurance populations is rapidly closing.

No single intervention will solve the crisis, the authors emphasize. Success will depend on alignment across wildlife conservation, veterinary medicine, agriculture, and public policy; a One Health approach that treats the health of people, animals, and ecosystems as inseparable. 

“African swine fever shows how infectious diseases can threaten biodiversity, food security, and livelihoods simultaneously,” said Dr. Chris Walzer, WCS Executive Director for Health and study co-author. “Preventing wildlife disease outbreaks before they escalate is also one of our best defenses against the next pandemic—and without coordinated action, these outbreaks will keep happening.”

Implementing the roadmap will require sustained investment over the next five years—a sum the authors note is several orders of magnitude smaller than the pork industry’s own  losses, set against costs of extinction that would be ecologically, culturally, and economically irreversible. 

The roadmap builds on an IUCN resolution, unanimously adopted last year, calling for urgent action on the Asian wild pig crisis. WCS and partners are already moving to put it into practice, including a planned Innovation Challenge to bring new technologies and partners into the effort, and by raising the issue at this October's UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia.

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