Tim Kennedy on wildlife: what the evidence says · JRE #1117
SUBJECT: WILDLIFE
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
a sow can have like at the age of one it could start having three or four litters a year i think it's six months oh it's crazy i think they can start breeding at six months and they're having multiple litters a year
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Kennedy stated that feral sows can begin breeding at around six months old and produce three or four litters per year. Wildlife-agency and university data show sexual maturity in feral swine can occur as early as 3-5 months in rare cases, but the documented average age of reproductive maturity is about 8 months, with a range of 5 to 14 months across 21 reviewed studies; successful first breeding is more commonly reported between 6 and 10 months. On litter frequency, the same body of research puts the average at about 1.5 litters per year, with a documented range of 0.84 to 2.0 litters per year; a southern Texas field study found adult sows averaging 1.57 litters per year and sub-adults 0.85. No reviewed source supports sows producing three or four litters annually. The six-month breeding age is at the low end of, but not inconsistent with, published ranges, while the claimed litter frequency is roughly double the highest figure reported in the scientific literature. Status: misleading, with the litter-frequency portion of the claim unsupported by available data.