Reproduction

How does the wild boar produce its young?

During breeding season the male will develop a thick coating of tissue which serves to protect them from injuries during fights. They will slash at each others shoulders.

Females will give birth to between 1 and 12 young in a single litter each year. At birth the young are covered with pale brown fur which is patterned with lighter colored stripes. This helps to camouflage the young during their most vulnerable stage of life.

Females form a crude nest in to which they will deposit the young. Young remain in this nest for 1-2 weeks. They will then start to venture with their mother from the nest until 7 months of age when they become independent.

The female young will remain in their mother's sounder (group) while males will leave by two years old.

Sexual maturity is reached between 8 and 10 months old.

Wild boars are the same species as the domestic pig and they can interbreed.

Behavior

What does the wild boar do with its day?

A group of wild boar is known as a sounder. It consists of a female and her current litter of young. The males will briefly join these groups during the mating season to gain mating rights with the female.

An average group will include 6-20 individuals but groups of up to 100 have been recorded.

Credit: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Predators and Threats

What is impacting the survival of the wild boar?

Natural predators of this species include bears, cats such as leopards and tigers and wolves.

The wild boar is considered abundant in its range. In areas where they are hunted in high amounts they will suffer population depressions.

These animals are affected by diseases such as the African swine fever in parts of eastern Europe.

No major threats to this species are recognized. In localized populations they may be affected by habitat destruction and hunting. Hunting takes place for food, sport and as a reprisal due to their effect on crops.

In some cropping areas they have been able to increase their population due to the presence of cultivated goods they can feed on.

Quick facts

These animals are also known as the Eurasian wild pig. In North America they are called the 'razorback' due to their long hair on the back which can be raised when they are threatened.

The thick hairs on their neck were used in toothbrushes before synthetic materials were developed to help deal with this.

Wild boars are the ancestors of most domestic pigs.