If you are after the facts about wild boars, then you are at the right place. The wild boar is an animal that can be very interesting to read about. The wild boar, also called the wild pig, is in the genus Sus scrofa and the tribe Suidae. Moreover, a boar is a male pig, a guinea pig, and a few other types of mammals.
People often call any member of the Sus family a wild boar or pig. At the same time, they are also called European wild pigs, hogs, or just boars. The wild boars is a very adaptable species that can live in many different places. Furthermore, they eat almost anything that can fit in its mouth, and run and float. Besides, big cats like tigers, wolves, and leopards are among their natural enemies.
It can reach a shoulder height of 90 cm (35 in), has bristly feathers, is grizzled, and looks blackish or brown. Moreover, except for old males, who live alone, they live in groups. The animals are fast, active at night, eat everything, and are great swimmers. Even though they aren’t usually aggressive, their tusks are sharp and can be scary. In this article, we’ve put together all the interesting facts about wild boars that we know. So keep going!
Amazing facts about wild boars
Size of wild boars
These are animals of medium size. At the same time, they can grow to be between 3 and 6.5 feet long, 21.6 to 39.3 inches tall, and 90 to 700 pounds heavy.
Colour
The double coat of fur on their body can be brown, red, black, or grey. The hair on the upper coat is rough and bristly. The undercoat is softer.
These animals have kind of tusks
One of the most noticeable things about a boar is that it has tusks on the bottom lip. Males’ tusks are longer and more curved. The extra tusk on the upper lip of males is used to sharpen the lower tusk, which is not the case for females.
When it’s time to mate, the males use their tusks to fight.
They have long noses
This one is an interesting fact about wild boars. These animals have rubbery noses that they use to dig up roots and bulbs that grow underground.
Wild boars eat everything
These animals eat anything they get (eats both plant- and animal-based food). It mostly eats seeds, fruits, leaves, berries, eggs, mice, lizards, worms, and snakes.
These animals are nocturnal
Among other facts about the wild boar is that they are nocturnal. These are the animals that live at night (active during the night). During the day, they will sleep for 12 hours in their leaf nests.
They have many predators
Even though wild boars are big, they have a lot of enemies. Wild boars are mostly eaten by tigers, leopards, lynx, wolves, bears, and people.
These animals live in groups
Let’s discuss other facts about wild boar in this section. These animals live in groups called “sounds.” These groups are made up of females and their young. Most groups have between 6 and 30 animals in them.
Males live alone, except when it’s time for them to mate.
They fight for a mate
Most of the time, the mating season runs from November to January. When two males fight, the winner gets a chance to mate with the other winner.
Wild boars have a gestation shorter gestation period
Female pigs are pregnant for 112 to 115 days and have 4 to 6 piglets at the end. On top of that, the mother is the only one who takes care of the babies. The piglets are born in a leaf nest. So, we do believe this was among the amazing facts about wild boars.
Young ones look different
Piglets have brown fur with creamy-coloured stripes that help them blend in with thick plants. So, when piglets are 3 to 4 months old, their stripes start to fall off. At one year old, animals are the same colour as when they are adults.
They grow very fast
Young wild boars need their mother for the first few months of their lives. At seven months, they will be able to do things on their own.
Wild boar’s life span
Wild boars can live up to ten years in the wild and up to twenty-five years in a zoo.
How do they have babies?
Well! After discussing the interesting facts about wild boars, let’s talk about their sexual activities. The boars ride for long distances on a sounder of sows until they can have their own babies. During this time, they don’t eat anything. When a sounder is found, the male scares away small animals and aggressively chases the sows.
At this stage, the male fights fiercely against any possible rivals. Besides, a single male will mate with as many as ten females at once. Moreover, males are often attacked, and by the end of the rut, they have lost about 20% of their weight. The phase of pregnancy depends on how old the mother-to-be is. It lasts 114–130 days for first-time breeders and 133–140 days for sows that have done this before.
After mating season, the females give birth to four to six piglets. They do so in a nest made of leaves, trees, and bushes. This nest has a cover of moss and is hidden in a thicket. This makes it enter our list of facts about wild boars. During the first few weeks after giving birth, the mother pig stays with her piglets to protect them from dangerous animals.
Piglets of the wild boar have light brown hair and white and brown stripes that run the length of their tails. This makes them a very different species. In three to four years, these stripes will be gone.
Conclusion
In the end, we hope you enjoyed these interesting facts about wild boars. The wild boar is related to the pigs we keep as pets. There are four subspecies of wild boar. They are all about the same size and shape, but their colours are different (which depends on the type of habitat). These animals live in Africa, Europe, and Asia (Japan, Indonesia, India and the Far East).
They can live in grasslands, taiga, and tropical rainforests, but deciduous forests are their favourite place to live. Loss of habitat and hunting for money are both bad for them. The wild populations are still stable and not on the list of species that are in danger of going extinct. We hope you enjoyed the fun facts about the wild boar in this whole article.
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Parvaiz Yousuf is a senior SEO writer and editor with an experience of over 6 years, who also doubles up as a researcher. With an MSc zoology degree under his belt and possessing complete Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knowledge, he works as a science journalist for a US-based website and Asian Scientist (A Singapore-based magazine). He also works as Director of Wetland Research Centre, Wildlife Conservation Fund YPJK since 2018. Besides, he has several publications to his name on cancer biology and biochemistry in some reputed journals such as Nature & International Journal of Molecular Sciences, & magazines such as Science Reporter, BUCEROS BNHS, and has an abiding interest in ornithology. He also worked as a Research Associate for JK Policy Institute.
