Boar
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| Wild Boar | ||||||||||||||
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| Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 |
The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is an omnivorous, gregarious mammal of the biological family Suidae (the pig family). It is native across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region (including North Africa's Atlas Mountains) and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia, and has been introduced elsewhere. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig.
Although common in France, the wild boar became extinct in Great Britain and Ireland by the 17th century, but wild breeding populations have recently returned in some areas, particularly the Weald, following escapes from boar farms.[1]
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[edit] Name
The term boar is used to denote an adult male of certain species – including, confusingly, domestic pigs. However, for wild boar, it applies to the whole species, including, for instance, "sow wild boar" or "wild boar piglet"[2]
[edit] Physical characteristics
The body of the wild boar is compact; the head is large, the legs relatively short. The fur consists of stiff bristles and usually finer fur. The colour usually varies from dark grey to black or brown, but there are great regional differences in colour; even whitish animals are known from central Asia.[3] During winter the fur is much denser. The size also varies highly within the range. Full-grown female wild boars (5 years or older) have a body length of about 135 cm (53 in) and a weight of 55–70 kg (120–150 lb) in central Europe, while adult males reach 140–150 centimetres (55–59 in) and weigh between 80 and 90 kg (180 and 200 lb) there. In some areas, like Astrachan and the Caucasus, wild boars grow much larger, with males reaching a body length of 200 cm (79 in) and a weight of 200 kg (440 lb). Even in parts of western France, boars have been caught weighing around 100 kg (220 lb). In the 1930s, animals weighing 260 kg (570 lb) were shot in the Volga delta and at the Syr Daria. In the Russian Far East and the Carpathians, males of more than 300 kg (660 lb) have been reported, but due to intensive hunting, the size of wild boars has declined. Currently, animals weighing 200 kg (440 lb) are counted as very large.
Boars also have the ability to leap 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.2 m) in the air.
The tusks (the canine teeth) serve as weapons, and grow continuously. The lower tusks of an adult male measure about 20 cm (7.9 in) (from which seldom more than 10 cm (3.9 in) protrude out of the mouth), in exceptional cases even 30 cm (12 in). The upper tusks are bent upwards in males, and are regularly ground against each other to produce sharp edges. In females they are smaller, and the upper tusks are only slightly bent upwards in older individuals.
Wild boar piglets are coloured differently from adults, being a soft brown with longitudinal darker stripes. The stripes fade by the time the piglet is about half-grown, when the animal takes on the adult's grizzled grey or brown colour.
[edit] Behavior
Wild boars live in groups called sounders. Sounders typically contain around 20 animals, but groups of over 50 have been seen. In a typical sounder there are two or three sows and their offspring; adult males are not part of the sounder outside of a breeding cycle, two to three per year, and are usually found alone. Birth, called farrowing, usually occurs in a secluded area away from the sounder; a litter will typically contain 8-12 piglets.[1](p. 6) The animals are usually nocturnal, foraging from dusk until dawn but with resting periods during both night and day.[1](p. 4-5, 8-9) They eat almost anything they come across, including nuts, berries, carrion, roots, tubers, refuse, insects, small reptiles--even young deer and lambs.[1](p. 9-10)
Boars are the only hoofed animals known to dig burrows, a habit which can be explained by the fact that they are the only known mammals lacking brown adipose tissue. Therefore, they need to find other ways to protect themselves from the cold. For the same reason, piglets often shiver to produce heat themselves.[4]
If surprised or cornered, a boar (and particularly a sow with her piglets) can and will defend itself and its young vigorously. The male lowers its head, charges, and then slashes upward with its tusks. The female, which is tuskless, charges with its head up, mouth wide, and bites. Such attacks are rarely fatal to humans, but severe trauma and blood loss can easily result.
Adult wild boar have few natural predators, though there have been cases of predation from tigers,[5] wolves[6] and striped hyenas.[7]
[edit] Range
[edit] Reconstructed range
The wild boar was originally found in North Africa and much of Eurasia from the British Isles to Japan and the Sunda Islands. In the north it reached southern Scandinavia and southern Siberia. Within this range it was absent in extremely dry deserts and alpine zones.
A few centuries ago it was found in North Africa along the Nile valley up to Khartum and north of the Sahara. The reconstructed northern boundary of the range in Asia ran from Lake Ladoga (at 60°N) through the area of Novgorod and Moscow into the southern Ural, where it reached 52°N. From there the boundary passed Ishim and farther east the Irtysh at 56°N. In the eastern Baraba steppe (near Novosibirsk) the boundary turned steep south, encircled the Altai Mountains, and went again eastward including the Tannu-Ola Mountains and Lake Baikal. From here the boundary went slightly north of the Amur River eastward to its lower reaches at the China Sea. At Sachalin there are only fossil reports of wild boar. The southern boundaries in Europe and Asia were almost everywhere identical to the sea shores of these continents. In dry deserts and high mountain ranges, the wild boar is naturally absent. So it is absent in the dry regions of Mongolia from 44-46°N southward, in China westward of Sichuan and in India north of the Himalaya. In high altitudes of Pamir and Tien Shan they are also absent; however, at Tarim basin and on the lower slopes of the Tien Shan they do occur.[3]
[edit] Present range
In recent centuries, the range of wild boar changed dramatically because of hunting by humans. They probably became extinct in Great Britain in the 13th century: certainly none remained in southern England by 1610, when King James I reintroduced them to Windsor Great Park. This attempt failed due to poaching, and later attempts met the same fate. By 1700 there were no wild boar remaining in Britain.
In Denmark the last boar was shot at the beginning of the 19th century, and in 1900 they were absent in Tunisia and Sudan and large areas of Germany, Austria and Italy. In Russia they were extinct in wide areas in the 1930s, and the northern boundary has shifted far to the south, especially in the parts to the west of the Altai Mountains.
By contrast, a strong and growing population of boar has remained in France, where they are hunted for food and sport, especially in the rural central and southern parts of that country.
By 1950 wild boar had once again reached their original northern boundary in many parts of their Asiatic range. By 1960 they reached Saint Petersburg and Moscow, and by 1975 they were to be found in Archangelsk and Astrakhan. In the 1970s they again occurred in Denmark and Sweden, where captive animals escaped and survive in the wild. In the 1990s they migrated into Tuscany in Italy.
[edit] Status in Britain
Between then and the 1980s, when wild boar farming began, only a handful of captive wild boar, imported from the continent, were present in Britain. Because wild boar are included in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, certain legal requirements have to be met prior to setting up a farm. A licence to keep boar is required from the local council, who will appoint a specialist to inspect the premises and report back to the council. Requirements include secure accommodation and fencing, correct drainage, temperature, lighting, hygiene, ventilation and insurance. Occasional escapes of wild boar have occurred since the 1970s. Early escapes occurred from Wildlife Parks, but since the early 1990s more escapes have been from farms, the number of which has increased as the demand for wild boar meat has grown. By the 1990s, a breeding population was rumoured to have established in areas of Kent and East Sussex. In 1998, a MAFF (now DEFRA) study on wild boar living wild in Britain confirmed the presence of two populations of wild boar living in Britain, one in Kent and East Sussex and another in Dorset.[1]
[edit] Introduced wild boars
At the beginning of the 20th century, wild boar were introduced for hunting in the United States, where they interbred in parts with free roaming domestic pigs. In South America, New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia and other islands, wild boar have also been introduced by humans and have partially interbred with domestic pigs.
[edit] Subspecies
Sus scrofa has wild subspecies, each occupying distinct geographical areas:
- Sus scrofa scrofa (western Africa, Europe)
- Sus scrofa ussuricus (northern Asia and Japan)
- Sus scrofa cristatus (Asia Minor, India)
- Sus scrofa vittatus (Indonesia)
- Sus scrofa taivanus (Formosan Wild Boar 台灣野豬（山豬)）[8] (Taiwan)
The domestic pig is usually regarded as a further subspecies, Sus scrofa domestica – but sometimes as a separate species, Sus domestica. Different subspecies can usually be distinguished by the relative lengths and shapes of their lacrimal bones. S. scrofa cristatus and S. scrofa vittatus have shorter lacrimal bones than European subspecies.[9] Spanish and French boar specimens have 36 chromosomes, as opposed to wild boar in the rest of Europe which possess 38, the same number as domestic pigs. Boars with 36 chromosomes have successfully mated with animals possessing 38, resulting in fertile offspring with 37 chromosomes.[10]
[edit] Feral pigs
Domestic pigs quite readily become feral, and feral populations often revert to a similar appearance to wild boar; they can then be difficult to distinguish from natural or introduced true wild boar (with which they also readily interbreed). The characterization of populations as feral pig, escaped domestic pig or wild boar is usually decided by where the animals are encountered and what is known of their history. In New Zealand, for example, feral pigs are known as "Captain Cookers" from their supposed descent from liberations and gifts to Māori by explorer Captain James Cook in the 1770s.[11] New Zealand feral pigs are also frequently known as "tuskers", due to their appearance.
One characteristic by which domestic and feral animals are differentiated is their coats. Feral animals almost always have thick, bristly coats ranging in colour from brown through grey to black. A prominent ridge of hair matching the spine is also common, giving rise to the name razorback in the southern United States, where they are common. The tail is usually long and straight. Feral animals tend also to have longer legs than domestic breeds and a longer and narrower head and snout.
A very large swine dubbed Hogzilla was shot in Georgia, USA in June 2004.[12] Initially thought to be a hoax, the story became something of an internet sensation. National Geographic Explorer investigated the story, sending scientists into the field. After exhuming the animal and performing DNA testing, it was determined that Hogzilla was a hybrid of wild boar and domestic swine.[13]
[edit] Commercial use
The hair of the boar was often used for the production of the toothbrush until the invention of synthetic materials in the 1930s.[14] The hair for the bristles usually came from the neck area of the boar. While such brushes were popular because the bristles were soft, this was not the best material for oral hygiene as the hairs were slow to dry and usually retained bacteria. Today's toothbrushes are made with plastic bristles.
Boar hair is used in the manufacture of boar-bristle hairbrushes, which are considered to be gentler on hair--and much more expensive--than common plastic-bristle hairbrushes.
Boar hair is used in the manufacture of paintbrushes, especially those used for oil painting. Boar bristle paintbrushes are stiff enough to spread thick paint well, and the naturally split or "flagged" tip of the untrimmed bristle helps hold more paint.
Despite claims that boar bristles have been used in the manufacture of premium dart boards for use with steel-tipped darts, these boards are, in fact, made of other materials and fibers – the finest ones from sisal rope.
In many countries, boar are farmed for their meat, and in countries such as France, for example, boar (sanglier) may often be found for sale in butcher shops or offered in restaurants (although the consumption of wild boar meat has been linked to transmission of Hepatitis E in Japan).[15]
[edit] Mythology, fiction and religion
In Greek mythology, two boars are particularly well known. The Erymanthian Boar was hunted by Hercules as one of his Twelve Labours, and the Calydonian Boar was hunted in the Calydonian Hunt by dozens of other mythological heroes, including some of the Argonauts and the huntress Atalanta.
In Celtic mythology the boar was sacred to the goddess Arduinna,[16][17] and boar hunting features in several stories of Celtic and Irish mythology. One such story is that of how Fionn mac Cumhaill ("Finn McCool") lured his rival Diarmuid Ua Duibhne to his death - gored by a wild boar.
Ares, the Greek god of war, had the ability to transform himself into a wild boar, and even gored his son to death in this form to prevent the young man from growing too attractive and stealing his wife, similar to Oedipus marrying his own mother.
The Norse gods Freyr and Freyja both had boars. Freyr's boar was named Gullinbursti ("Golden Mane"), who was manufactured by the dwarf Sindri due to a bet between Sindri's brother Brokkr and Loki. The bristles in Gullinbursti's mane glowed in the dark to illuminate the way for his owner. Freya rode the boar Hildesvini (Battle Swine) when she was not using her cat-drawn chariot. According to the poem Hyndluljóð, Freyja concealed the identity of her protégé Óttar by turning him into a boar. In Norse mythology, the boar was generally associated with fertility as well as a protective talisman in war, due to the animal's sometimes fierce nature.[citation needed]
In Persia (Iran) during the Sassanid Empire, boars were respected as fierce and brave creatures, and the adjective "Boraz (Goraz)" (meaning boar) was sometimes added to a person's name to show his bravery and courage. The famous Sassanid spahbod, Shahrbaraz, who conquered Egypt and the Levant, had his name derived Shahr(city) + Baraz(boar like/brave) meaning "Boar of the City".[citation needed]
In Hindu mythology, the third avatar of the Lord Vishnu was Varaha, a boar.
In Chinese horoscope the boar (sometimes also translated as pig), is one of the twelve animals of the zodiac, based on the legends about its creation, either involving Buddha or the Jade Emperor.[citation needed]
In the Asterix comic series, wild boar are the favourite food of Obelix whose immense appetite means that he can eat several roasted boar in a single sitting.
[edit] Heraldry and other symbolic use
The wild boar and a boar's head are common charges in heraldry. It represents what are often seen as the positive qualities of the boar, namely courage and fierceness in battle.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e M.J. Goulding B.Sc. M.Sc.; G. Smith B.Sc. Ph.D. (March 1998). Current Status and Potential Impact of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in the English Countryside: A Risk Assessment. Report to Conservation Management Division C, MAFF.. UK Government, Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
- ^ Taxonomy Browser: Sus Scrofa. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
- ^ a b V. G. Heptner and A. A. Sludskii: Mammals of the Sowjetunion Vol. II, Part 2 Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats). Leiden, New York, 1989 ISBN 900408876 8
- ^ Catherine Scullion. Shiver Me Piglets!. null-hypothesis.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. “Most newborn mammals are kept warm by a reaction in the mitochondria involving brown fat tissue; which converts fats into heat. Pigs lack this mechanism and so shudder in order to maintain their body temperature.”
- ^ Yudakov, A. G. and I. G. Nikolaev, The Ecology of the Amur Tiger [Chapter 13]
- ^ SpringerLink - Journal Article
- ^ Striped Hyaena Hyaena (Hyaena) hyaena (Linnaeus, 1758). IUCN Species Survival Commission Hyaenidae Specialist Group. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ Wow, Taipei Zoo! 臺北動物園全球資訊網
- ^ Clutton-Brock, Juliet (1987). A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals, pp.208. ISBN 0521346975.
- ^ Wild boar profile
- ^ Horwitz, Tony (2003). Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before. Picador, 127. ISBN 0312422601.
- ^ Dewan, Shaila. "DNA tests to reveal if possible record-size boar is a pig in a poke", San Francisco Chronicle, 2005-03-19. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
- ^ "The Mystery of Hogzilla Solved", ABC News, 2005-03-21. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
- ^ Dental Encyclopedia. 1800dentist.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
- ^ Li T-C, Chijiwa K, Sera N, Ishibashi T, Etoh Y, Shinohara Y, et al. (2005). "Hepatitis E Virus Transmission from Wild Boar Meat". Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet].
- ^ Celtic Encyclopaedia
- ^ les-ardennes.net
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