Wild Boar
| Class: Mammalia:
Mammals |
Diet: Roots &
Tubers |
| Order:
Artiodactyla: Even-toed Ungulates |
| Size: body:
1.1 - 1.3 m (3 1/2 - 4 1/2 ft), tail: 15 - 20 cm (6 - 7 3/4 in) |
| Family: Suidae: Pigs |
Conservation Status:
Non-threatened |
| Scientific Name:
Sus scrofa |
Habitat: forest,
woodland |
| Range:
Southern and central Europe, Northwestern Africa; through Asia to Siberia,
south to Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Southeast Asia; introduced in USA |
 The
ancestor of the domestic pig, the wild boar has a heavy body covered with
dense, bristly hair, thin legs and a long snout. The male has prominent
tusks derived from the canine teeth. Wild boars live alone or in small
groups of up to 20, with males separate from, but remaining close to, the
females. Active at night and in the morning, they forage over a wide area
for food, digging for bulbs and tubers and also eating nuts and a variety
of other plant material, as well as insect larvae and, occasionally, carrion.
An agile, fast-moving animal, the wild boar is aggressive
if alarmed; males use their strong tusks for defense. The breeding season
varies according to regional climate, but in Europe, wild boars mate in
winter and give birth to a litter of up to 10 striped young in spring or
early summer after a gestation of about 115 days.
  
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