The wild boar, Sus scrofa, also called wild boar can easily grow to more than a meter long. Only the males have tusks. The wild boar is an omnivore that digs the ground to get to food. In doing so, it has a major influence on the vegetation. The females live with their young in groups, the males usually live solitary. Wild boars cause damage and danger. Damage to agriculture, danger in the forest and in traffic. They occur in almost all of Eurasia.
Taxonomic Classification
- Rich: Animalia (Animals)
- tribe: Chordata (Chorda animals)
- Class: Mammalia (Mammals)
- Order: Artiodactyla (Even-toed ungulates)
- Family: Suidae (Pigs)
- Sex: Sus (Real boars)
- Kind: Sus scrofa
Appearance
Wild boars are very recognizable. They look like their domestic relatives, the pigs, but their fur is very bristly. The male boar has tusks, also called “hackers”. mentioned. These are only missing in young males. The tusks are canines that are highly developed and protrude beyond the mouth. The snout is a characteristic snout with which they dig up the ground. The weight and size of wild boars vary widely, as shown in the table.
Male | female | |
---|---|---|
average length | 105 to 165 centimeters | 100 to 150 centimeters |
average height | 65 to 110 centimeters | 60 to 90 centimeters |
average weight | 33 and 150 kilograms | 30 to 80 kilos |
The big differences have to do with the large distribution area of the wild boar. It grows larger and heavier at the northern limit of its range than in the south. Escaped domestic pigs also influence the size of the wild boar. Cross-breeding takes place between these animals and the wild boars, bringing the genes of the larger domestic pigs into the wild boar population. This makes the new generations of wild boars bigger. Young boars are clearly different from the adults. They have pajamas ?? of white and brown stripes that serve for camouflage. After three to five months, this coat gives way to the brown of the older animals.
Food
The wild boar is a real omnivore. It eats acorns, beechnuts and chestnuts, as well as mushrooms, carrots and herbs. It also eats animal matter, such as frogs, snakes and mice. When gathering food, it uses its snout to dig the soil. With this he exposes seeds and young plants, but also nests of young mice and slugs.
Behaviour
Wild boars are mainly active at dusk and at night. However, if there are many boars, they can also be seen active during the day. They live in small groups called rotten ones. There are a number of females with their young in a group. After two years, the males leave the group. They usually live solitary after this, but sometimes they move up in groups of young males. When the males are sexually mature, they mark their territory by rubbing their fur along tree trunks. Wild boars love to roll in the mud. They do this to free their coat from parasites.
Reproduction
In the mating season between September and March, the solitary males seek out groups of females. After mating, it takes 115 days for the young to be born. On average there are four to seven, but it can also be twelve. Generally speaking, the older the sow (female), the more young and the more food, the more young. The young reach sexual maturity by one year, but leave the group after two years to reproduce. If something goes wrong with the first litter, the female can have a second litter in the summer. Pigs are protective of their young. When another animal or human gets too close, the female will without a doubt attack.
Appearance
Wild boars mainly live in semi-open deciduous forests. They also like to migrate to agricultural areas, as long as shelter can be found. Originally the wild boar was found in almost all of Eurasia. The northern border was southern Scandinavia, the southern border North Africa. Westward the boar came to Ireland, east all the way to Japan.
In the Netherlands, wild boars were virtually extinct around 1830. In the early twentieth century they were released again for hunting. The pigs were then released in a number of fenced areas. A number of them have escaped from here, so that they now occur all over the Veluwe. In the Netherlands they also occur in the De Meinweg National Park. In Belgium they are mainly in the Ardennes. Officially there are no wild boars in the rest of the Netherlands. Yet they are in many more areas. They know how to crawl past holes in the fences or enter the Netherlands from Germany.
Ecology
Wild boars have a major influence on the vegetation. They turn the soil, destroying the young plants that take root in it. In doing so, they raise the mineral topsoil, so that certain plant species (mainly pioneer vegetation such as willow and birch) can grow better. However, if there are too many pigs, these plants also no longer have the opportunity to grow.
Cons
Damage
Wild boars inflict damage in various areas. The damage is particularly great to agricultural areas. After all, there is easy food for the pigs. A big disadvantage of wild boars is that they not only eat the crops, but also dig up the entire soil. As a result, they do more damage than they would if they ate alone.
Traffic
Wild boars, like all large wild animals, are a hazard to traffic. Especially on poorly lit roads, the animals are not seen in time when they cross at night. Motorists try to swerve, which leads to accidents.
Danger
Wild boars can also be dangerous in the nature reserves themselves. Especially when they have young they can attack people. They generally do nothing as long as you keep your distance and don’t get between mother and young. However, the young are very curious, which sometimes makes this difficult.