Wild Boar

Sus scrofa

### Regions

Temperate, tropical, Mediterranean regions as well as grasslands ataige in Eurasia and Western North Africa

## Habitat

### Water Area

310 m² +15 m²/ea. add'l
0 m²

### Temperature

0 m²
‒4‒43 ℃

## Social

### Fem. Bachelor

3‒30 (up to 1 male, up to 29 females)
3‒9
3‒30

### Sterility

1 year
12 years

### Interbirth

3 months
12 months

## Taxonomy

### Order

Mammalia
Artiodactyla

### Genus

Suidae
Sus

The **Wild Boar** (*Sus scrofa*) is a large Eurasian ungulate featured in the Eurasia Animal Pack DLC for Planet Zoo.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** Unknown

The wild boar (or Sus scrofa), also known as the Eurasian wild pig, is a pig native throughout the temperate regions of Eurasia, as well as Mediterranean Northern Africa, Asian deserts and shrublands, and tropical rainforests and grasslands of Southeast Asia. It has also been introduced to North and South America and Oceania. Due to its wide distribution and adaptability, there are 16 recognised subspecies of the wild boar, varying greatly in appearance. The largest wild boars live in Central and Eastern Europe. Their coat is made up of dark brown, coarse bristles, which form into a mane on the male’s neck. Wild boars have a large head which reaches up to a third of their body length, and, together with their powerful neck muscles, makes them adept at digging even into frozen ground. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males being larger and heavier than females. Males can reach a size of 85cm to 100cm tall at the shoulder and 1.45m to 1.75m long, and a weight of 75kg to 130kg. Females grow to be 75cm to 90cm tall at the shoulder, 1.3m to 1.57m in length, and weigh between 60kg and 90kg.

Wild boars are extremely widespread and populous, and therefore listed as a species of Least Concern. Due to overhunting, they had become extinct in Great Britain in the High Middle Ages, but small breeding populations were reintroduced to Southern England in the 1980s. They have also been introduced to North America for hunting purposes, and escapees of these groups have established invasive populations of feral wild boar and domestic pig hybrids. In South America, wild boars were imported for breeding purposes, with intentional releases and escapes resulting in invasive populations being established in Brazil. In its native range, the wild boar is hunted for meat and represent a keystone of their habitat’s ecosystems. However, in the Americas, measures are in place to manage the invasive populations to protect native wildlife.

### Social needs

Female wild boars live in sounders led by an old matriarch, consisting of non-breeding females and mothers with their offspring. Adult males are solitary for most of the year, joining sounders only during the breeding season. Young and sub adult males live in bachelor groups.

### Reproduction

The breeding season in wild boars lasts from November to January. During this time, males develop subcutaneous padding to protect their organs during fights with rivals. A male who has located a sounder of females will chase off young and infertile sows and herd any female in oestrus. Any rival male interfering with this chase is fought aggressively. If he is successful with herding the group, he mates with any fertile female, typically 5 to 10 per breeding season, and then leaves the sounder again.

Sows are pregnant for 108 to 120 days. Towards the end of the pregnancy, a sow constructs a nest made of grass, into which she gives birth to a litter of 4 to 6 piglets on average, although litters of up to 12 have been recorded. She remains in the nest for 10 days, allowing her offspring to suckle. After this period, they leave the nest together, with the piglets remaining close to their mother in the sounder. Male piglets leave the sounder between 8 and 15 months old and form bachelor groups with other young males, while female piglets either remain with their natal sounder, or split off to establish a new group elsewhere.

Wild boars reach sexual maturity at 1 year old, though females are unlikely to reproduce until they are at least 18 months old, and males may only successfully reproduce until they are at least 4 years old and strong enough to chase and defend a sounder from other males. Both female and male wild boards keep growing until they are 5 to 6 years old.

## Animal Care

 FEEDING STATIONS
 FOOD ENRICHMENT
Large Barrel Feeder · Forage Box Enrichment · Fruit Spike Tree · Melon Feeder
Cardboard Box · Gift Box · Sprinkler · Wind Chimes · Herb scent marker · Rubbing Pillar · Mud Bath · Scots Pine/Tamarind Scratching Tree

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* If a wild boar mother dies before her piglets are mature, her offspring is adopted by other sows of her sounder.
* Wild boars can smell edible roots and tubers buried in 10in of soil.
* Wild boar hair used to be used for toothbrush bristles.
* The wild boar’s main predator is the timber wolf.
* The wild boar has poor eyesight but compensates with its excellent sense of smell and hearing.