Description

Distinguishing Features - Length: .9 - 2 m. Weight: 44 - 320 kg. Overall colouration: brownish, graying with age. Head, long and pointed; coat, coarse and bristly; face, cheeks, and throat are slightly grizzled with whitish hairs; back is rounded and the legs are relatively long, especially in northern subspecies. Young are born with a pattern of light stripes along their torso, known as livery. These fade between the second and sixth month, reaching adult colouration at one year of age. The upper canines form tusks which curve out and upwards. The lower canines are like razors, self-sharpening by rubbing against the upper canines. The tail is long with a simple tuft.

Habitat

Scrub, forest, and arid environments from southern parts of Russia to eastern Siberia.

Diet

Seeds, roots, tubers, fruit, nuts, carrion, eggs, insects; as with all pigs, almost anything.

Notes

Wild boars rest in tight groups with bodily contact. The resting place, used several times before being abandoned, is made of numerous troughs lined with leaves and branches. Wallowing is a favourite activity, taking place several times during each summer afternoons in muddy waterholes. In winter, this frequency drops to about once per week. After wallowing, the wild boar rubs against trees and bushes, an activity that acts as a territorial marker.

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