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Physical Description
The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig. Wild boars can reach up to 440 lb (200 kg) and can be up to 6 feet (1.8 m) long. If surprised or cornered they may become aggressive and can cause injury with their tusks. However, this is quite rare and usually only occurs if a sow feels the need to defend her piglets.
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 the autumnal breeding season and are usually found alone. Birth, called farrowing, usually occurs in the spring; a litter will typically contain five piglets, but up to 13 have been known.
The animals are usually nocturnal, foraging from dusk until dawn but with resting periods during both night and day. This is because hunters are most active during the day. They eat almost anything they come across, including nuts, berries, carrion, roots, tubers, refuse, insects, small reptiles--even young deer and lambs.
Habitat & Distribution
It lives in woodlands across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region (including North Africa's Atlas Mountains), and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia.
The wild boar became extinct in Great Britain in the medieval period, but wild breeding populations have recently returned in some areas, particularly the Weald, following escapes from boar farms.
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