Javaporcos with neon blue meat alarm to California

A strange phenomenon is transforming the internal anatomy of wild pigs in California. Researchers and hunters are concerned with effects in the food chain.

A disturbing discovery has shot alarms in California: Hunters have found widespread whose meat and fat display a neon blue fluorescence that challenges any natural explanation. The discovery, which at first seemed an unusual phenomenon, proved to be a real danger.

The first time Dan Burton, an expert in wild fauna control, saw this phenomenon in March, could not believe what he was seeing. “I’m not talking about a little blue. I’m talking about Blue Neon, blue blueberry,” he told Los Angeles Times. “It’s crazy.”

This occurred near Salinas, in Monterey County, where Burton had captured several animals as part of his routine tasks. By examining them, the intense antinatural coloration of both muscle tissue and the adipose layer left it stunned.

His instinct led him to contact California’s Wildlife and Wildlife Department (CDFW), which eventually revealed a more severe environmental problem than expected.

Blue Tinge Fauna Tinge Veneno

Following a broad investigation, CDFW’s wildlife health laboratory and California’s animal health and food safety laboratory in Davis identified the culprit: an anticoagulant rodenticide called dipacinone.

Widely used in agriculture for rodent control, this poison is deliberately tinged with bright blue as a safety measure so that humans can easily identify and avoid it. However, wild animals do not recognize these warning signs created by the human being.

Although not the first time this type of contamination has been detected, the case has generated special attention due to the flashy color and the risk it represents for human health.

According to CDFW, this type of rodenticide can also affect predators that consume poisoned animals – including humans – as the substance remains active in tissues even after being cooked.

According to the Los Angeles Times newspaper, laboratory tests showed that the animals were exposed to the poison “for a long time.” Although the doses in the traps are lethal for the small animals to which they are intended, they are not large enough to cause immediate damage to the boats, which usually weigh between 45 and 90 pounds.

Difacinone acts as an anticoagulant, causing serious internal bleeding when binding to enzymes that recycle vitamin K, which affects the blood coagulation capacity. The effects are not instantaneous. Death usually occurs several days after initial intake, during which the animal becomes more vulnerable to predators, which multiplies its impact on the food chain.

Impact on the food chain and previous studies

Still in 2018, a CDFW study found traces of Rodenticide in 8.3% of California -analyzed and 83% of bear samples, especially in areas close to rat control projects.

The boats, which are actually hybrids between wild boars and domestic pigs, feed on almost everything they find, including poisoned baits or dying rodents. This makes them a fundamental link in the involuntary propagation of the toxic.

The use of dipacinone in California has been restricted since 2024, and today is allowed only to certified technicians. However, poison remains continue to appear in the local fauna. For the authorities, this is a warning: if the pig is blue, something is wrong, but even those that do not show visible signs may be contaminated.

Prevention measures for hunters and farmers

CDFW has asked hunters to take extreme precautions when collecting meat in the area and reporting any anomaly to the wildlife health laboratory. In addition, it is recommended that farmers adopt integrated pest management methods, which combine fences, traps, natural predators and other non-chemical strategies.

“Hunters should be aware that hunted animals such as boar, deer, bears and geese may be contaminated if these animals have been exposed to Rodenticides,” warns Ryan Bourbour, CDFW pesticide research coordinator. “Rodenticididos exposure may be concerned for non-target wildlife in areas where these products are applied very close to the animal habitat.”

What happened in California raises questions about how far the unforeseen consequences of agricultural chemicals can reach, especially when they begin to appear in places where no one expected to find them.

Originally published by DW on 08/21/2025