(The dialect was cringey at times.) I found it interesting that there were few white characters, and with the exception of an attorney, they were all more or less antagonists. I can see why people were offended by the story (and I had no idea that drug use was central to the plot), but considering a lot of stuff produced during that era. Was it too operatic (especially the 1935 production) for theater-going audiences of the 1930s? Was the all-black cast a turn-off? It doesn't appear that the 1935 Broadway production was very successful, nor was the 1942 revival, but if I am wrong please set me straight. (I also plan to watch some staged versions of the opera, and maybe the 1959 film version.) I'm a big fan of jazz and so know several of the songs from Porgy and Bess, but knew very little about the plot, so I decided to read DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy. Researchers say their population has grown in recent decades because of the animals' high reproductive rate and a lack of predators, coupled with climate change, reforestation efforts and decreased hunting.
“I respect the sensitivities of all animal and environmental activists but we are facing an emergency and it must be addressed with emergency tools,” Andrea Costa, Italy’s undersecretary for health, tells Rai, per Google Translate.ĭomesticated pigs descended from their wild cousins, which are native to Europe and Asia. Infected animals have high fevers, red or blotchy skin, diarrhea and vomiting, coughing, difficulty breathing and weakness, per the U.S. In China, the world’s largest pork-producing nation, farmers killed hundreds of millions of pigs due to the viral disease in 20. Outbreaks can be devastating for livestock producers, who either lose their animals to the disease itself or must slaughter their herds to stop the spread. It has so far not been detected in the United States. The highly contagious virus first appeared in East Africa in the early 1900s, then spread to Europe and Asia. And while African swine fever can’t be transmitted to humans, it can infect and kill commercial pigs raised for food. Roughly 2.3 million wild boars roam around Italy, with roughly 20,000 in the area of Rome, according to farm trade group Coldiretti. Though animals tested positive for the disease in the country’s northwestern Piedmont and Liguria regions earlier this year, this is the first time officials have detected African swine fever in animals near the Italian capital, reports the Guardian’s Angela Giuffrida. In parts of northern Rome, the city is banning outdoor picnics, and some neighborhoods are even implementing curfews to deter pig-human contact. But that doesn’t mean they’re safe from Italy’s boars in recent months, residents have reported multiple cases of porcine aggression toward people. The Italian government plans to cull the population after at least one wild boar tested positive for African swine fever in the Insugherata Nature Reserve this week another two animals found in the same area are likely positive as well, reports state-owned news broadcaster Rai. Some of the animals now have a contagious disease, and others have injured the humans that live in their ever-expanding habitat.
And while residents have mostly resigned themselves to coexisting with the animals, the situation appears to be getting worse. In and around Rome, it’s not uncommon to see hairy wild boars rummaging through garbage bins or wandering down the street.