Collared Peccary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iCollared Peccary

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Tayassuidae
Genus:	Tayassu
Species:	T. tajacu

Binomial name

Tayassu tajacu
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Collared Peccary, Tayassu tajacu, is a peccary species found in North, Central and South America, living in many habitats, from dry, Sonoran desert and chaco to deep rainforest to the deciduous forest. They are commonly referred to as Javelina, although this term is also used to describe the other two species of peccary

Collared peccaries are diurnal and live in groups of 1 to 20 individuals, usually 6 to 9. They feed on fruits, roots, tubers, palm nuts, grasses, invertebrates and small vertebrates. They usually sleep at night in burrows, usually under the roots of trees.

It is sometimes called a "musk hog" because of the strong odor it releases, especially when alarmed. In some areas of the Southwestern United States they have become habituated to human beings and live in relative harmony with them in such areas as the suburbs of cities where there are still relatively large areas of brush and undergrowth to move through.

They will defend themselves if they feel threatened but otherwise tend to ignore human beings. They defend themselves with their long tusks, which sharpen themselves whenever their mouths open or close.