KINABATANGAN: African Swine Fever (ASF) has not only caused the collapse of the wild bearded pig population in the state but also harmed indigenous communities.
For the past nine months, the lethal virus caused the mass death of domestic and wild pigs in the state.
As a result, the lack of pigs threatened the health of the forest, as well as food security and cultural traditions in some parts of the state.
Despite the situation, Danau Girang Field Centre director, Professor Benoit Goossens said there was still hope for a recovery of bearded pigs.
"We have evidence collected from camera traps in several protected areas that some bearded pigs have survived, although the numbers are extremely sporadic.
"The species is very resilient, and its reproductive rate is high with a female able to produce between 3 and 10 piglets. .
"We can therefore expect that if some survived the outbreak, the population could bounce back in a few years," he said in a statement.
Goossens was one of the co-authors of newly published research in the journal, People and Nature which revealed ways bearded pigs played important cultural and dietary roles in Indigenous Kadazandusun-Murut (KDM) communities in Sabah.
An international research team from Malaysia, the UK, and the US came together to study ways oil palm expansion has affected the millennia-old hunting practices of the KDM people, the largest Indigenous group in Sabah.
The team was also made up of researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Sabah Parks, Sabah Wildlife Department, Cardiff University, the University of Queensland, and UC Berkeley.
Based on interviews conducted for the study, apart from food security, some hunters emphasised the importance of the bearded pig for cultural traditions.
Bearded pig meat is frequently shared at festivals, birthday parties, and other celebratory events.
UMS researcher Dr Fiffy Hanisdah Saikim said if the pigs could make a comeback, it would be great news for bearded pig conservation and KDM cultural traditions.
"This animal is much more than simply a game for the people of Borneo.
"The bearded pig is a unique creature that bears witness to both ecological and cultural keystone species."