Wild boar

Wild boar
Wild boar (scientific name: Sus scrofa), also known as boar, is a pig. They are widely distributed in the world, adapt to a variety of habitats, and are omnivorous.

The domestic pig, one of the main sources of meat food today, was also domesticated by wild boars 8000 years ago. It is a subspecies of wild boars. Not only are wild boars very different from domestic pigs in appearance, they also grow much slower than domestic pigs and weigh less.


Form
The wild boar has a stout body, a large head, and short limbs. The coat color is dark brown or black, and the old back will grow white hair, but there are also regional differences. In the Central Asia, white wild boars have appeared. The coat color of the young pigs is light brown with black stripes. There is a long, hard mane on the back. The hair is thick and thin, and the hair will grow denser in winter. The average body length is 1.5-2 meters (not including the tail length), and the shoulder height is about 90 cm. The weight is 90-200 kg, and the sizes produced in different regions are also different. In some areas, the weight of wild boars can reach more than 200 kg, and the weight of wild boars in northeast China and the Russian Far East even reaches nearly 400 kg. Male wild boars have two pairs of growing canine teeth, which can be used as weapons or digging tools. The average length of canine teeth is 6 cm, of which 3 cm is exposed outside the mouth. force.


Habits
There are generally 20 wild boars and more than 50 once. The general wild boar herd has 2-3 sows and a group of young pigs, and boars will only join the herd during the estrus period. Sows are usually produced in remote corners, with 8-12 young pigs per litter.

They have a wide range of food sources, including grass, fruits, nuts, roots, insects, bird eggs, rats, carrion, and even eat hares and deer cubs.


Wild boars dig holes to live, and are the only ungulates that dig holes.

Wild boars are rough and aggressive. When threatened, boars use fangs to protect themselves, and sows without fangs will bite each other.

Distribution
According to archaeological research, swine animals have appeared in Europe today since about 40 million years ago, and by about 15 million years ago, swine animals have been widely distributed in Asia, Europe and Africa. Wild boars have been widespread in Eurasia and North Africa, Spain and Morocco in the west, Japan in the east, Northern Europe and Siberia in the north, and Indonesia, India and Sudan in the south. The habitat of wild boars spans temperate and tropical regions, ranging from semi-arid climates to tropical rainforests, temperate woodlands, grasslands, etc., and often breaks into agricultural land for food, but it is not in extremely arid, extremely high, and extremely cold Infested areas. In addition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Gobi Desert, they are widely distributed in China.

In recent centuries, the field of wild boar activity has been greatly reduced by human hunting. They may have disappeared in the UK in the 13th century; Northern England confirmed in 1610 that no wild boars were alive. King James I of England tried to reintroduce wild boars to some national parks, but failed due to poaching. Since 1700, there have been no more wild boars in Britain.

The last wild boar in Denmark was shot in the early 19th century; it completely disappeared in Germany, Austria, Italy, Tunisia and Sudan in the 1900s. They have disappeared in most parts of Russia, especially west of the Altai Mountains. However, there are still many wild boars in France, and there are signs of growth.

After 1950s, wild boars in Europe and Central Asia began to pick up: in 1960, wild boars were found in the suburbs of St. Petersburg and Moscow; they appeared again in Denmark and Sweden in 1970, and they may have escaped from the zoo; During the nuclear accident, the evacuation zone around the power plant gradually became the living space of wild boars; in 1990, wild boars migrated to northern Italy. In addition, a large number of wild boars have also escaped from their cages in the UK, growing in the wild, and the number is rising.

In Hong Kong, due to sufficient food and water, and few people hunting, wild boars have grown rapidly, and even often enter the environment of human life.

Subspecies
There are 21 subspecies of wild boar, six of which are distributed in Europe:
  1. European wild boars (S. s. scrofa) are distributed from France to western Russia.
  2. Spanish wild boar (S. s. baeticus), distributed in Spain and Portugal.
  3. Castilean boar (S. s. castilianus), distributed in northern Spain.
  4. Sardine boar (S. s. meridionalis), distributed in Sardinia.
  5. Italian wild boar (S. s. majori), distributed in central and southern Italy.
  6. Caucasus wild boar (S. s. attila), distributed in southeastern Europe, Turkey, Iran.
  7. North African wild boar (S. s. algira), distributed in northern Africa.
  8. Middle East wild boar (S. s. lybica), distributed in the Middle East.
  9. Sudan wild boar (S. s. sennaarensis), distributed in Egypt and Sudan, has become extinct.
  10. Caspian wild boar (S. s. nigripes), distributed in central Asia.
  11. Ussuricus (S. s. ussuricus), distributed in Northeast China, North Korea, and Far East Russia, is the largest wild boar subspecies.
  12. Taiwan wild boar (S. s. taivanus), distributed in Taiwan.
  13. Japanese wild boar (S. s. leucomystax), distributed in Japan.
  14. Ryukyu wild boar (S. s. riukiuanus), distributed in the Ryukyu Islands in Japan.
  15. South China wild boar (S. s. moupinensis), distributed in South China and North China.
  16. Siberian wild boar (S. s. sibiricus), northern Asia.
  17. Indian wild boar (S. s. cristatus), distributed in the Indian subcontinent.
  18. Southern Indian wild boar (S. s. affinis), southern India and Sri Lanka.
  19. Himalayan wild boar (S. s. davidi), south slope of Himalayan.
  20. Indonesian wild boar (S. s. vittatus), distributed in Indonesia and Malaysia.
  21. Domestic pigs (S. s. domestica), domesticated by humans, are distributed all over the world.
Domestication of wild pigs
Domestic pigs can live in the wild, that is, wild pigs. Wild pigs often grow into the appearance of wild boars, so it is difficult to distinguish them from natural or imported real wild boars. The characteristics of wild pigs, lost domestic pigs, or wild boars vary according to their location and encounter. For example, in New Zealand, wild pigs are actually a gift from James Cook to Maori in the 1770s

Another difference between domestic pigs and wild pigs is their fur. Wild pigs have thick fur with brown to black mane. Their backs will also protrude, so there is a wild pig called the pointed-back semi-wild pig in the southern United States. Their tails are also very long and straight, and their feet, head and kiss are longer than domestic pigs.
In the early 20th century, wild boars were introduced to the United States as prey, but they were mixed with domestic pigs. In South America, New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia and other islands, wild boars are introduced and mixed with domestic pigs. In June 2004, someone shot a very large wild boar in Georgia, USA. It was initially considered a hoax, but after a National Geographic survey and DNA testing by scientists, it was confirmed that the giant pig is a hybrid of wild boar and domestic pig.


In the early 20th century, wild boars were brought to Uruguay as prey, brought to Brazil in 1990, and quickly became an invasive species. In 2005, Rio Grande do Sul allowed licensed hunting of wild pigs and their mixed breeds, plus wild pigs that escaped or released from pig farms in Africa also contributed to the number of hunts available, so in Santa Catarina Na and Sao Paulo are also allowed to hunt wild pigs. Wild pigs in South America have also reduced the situation in which jaguars prey on collared and white-lipped scorpions.

According to US estimates, in 2008 alone, 4 million wild pigs caused damage to people's production and livelihood, and property losses amounted to US$800 million.

The Insect Species Expert Group (ISSG) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission is listed as one of the world’s top 100 invasive alien species.

Natural enemies
Wild boars are the prey of tigers. Tigers track wild boars and attack them one by one. This method completely destroyed the entire wild boar. Tigers also hunt wild boars, but they rarely deal with males in this way, although wild boars kill tigers for self-defense.

Wolves also eat wild boars, especially in Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, and Russia. Wolves rarely attack wild boars face to face, and often attack their perineum, causing them to lose their balance and bleed heavily. In some areas of the Soviet Union in the past, a single pack of wolves could kill 50-80 wild boars per year. In some areas of Italy, wild boars were hunted by wolves, causing wild boars to develop a more aggressive behavior against wolves and domestic dogs.

The striped hyena sometimes hunts wild boar, but it seems to be limited to the three larger subspecies of northwest Africa, the Middle East and India.

Trade use
Wild boar hair was used to make toothbrushes when synthetic materials were not invented before the 1930s. The mane comes mostly from the neck. These toothbrushes are popular because of their soft hair, but they are not the best materials for cleaning the oral cavity, because the bristles are difficult to dry and easy to hide bacteria. Today's toothbrushes are all made of glue.

Wild boar hair can also be used to make combs, because the hair quality is gentler to the hair, but it is more expensive than general combs.

The paint brush can also be made with wild boar hair. The bristle bristles are hard enough to spread the paint, and the bristles are naturally split, so that more paint can be applied.

Wild boars are farmed in many countries. For example, they are sold in butcher shops and restaurants in China and France. Some studies believe that wild boar is related to hepatitis E infection.

Culture
Myths and religion

There are two well-known wild boars in Greek mythology, the wild boars of Mount Erumantos killed by Hercules and the Caludong wild boars hunted by the heroes at the Caludong hunting place. The Greek god of war Ares could turn himself into a wild boar, so as not to have his son look too handsome and snatch his wife, he stabbed to death.

In the Celtic mythology, the wild boar is a sacrifice dedicated to the goddess and appears in many stories of Celtic and Irish mythology.
The gods Frei and Freya of the Nordic mythology have wild boars. Frey's wild boar is named Gulin Bosde and was made by the dwarf Sindri. Grimboss's mane glows in the dark, illuminating the way forward. Freya has a wild boar mount. According to "Sindra's Song", Freya turned him into a wild boar in order to hide Ott. Wild boar actually means "fertile" in Nordic mythology.

During the Sassanid dynasty in Persia, wild boars were considered brave and courageous. Some brave and courageous people will add the word "balez" to their names, meaning wild boar. The Sassanid dynasty once occupied Egypt and Levante's famous Shah Balez, whose name is "wild boar in the city". Kazakh Khan Middle School Jade-Naman Baturu called Kabambayi, wild boar.

In Indian mythology, the raft Roh, the third incarnation of Vishnu, is a wild boar. Moritzian mounts are also wild boars.

The wild boar (or pig) is one of the Chinese zodiac signs, and the Japanese zodiac does not include domestic pigs

Coat of arms and symbols
Wild boars often appear in Western coats of arms. The complete wild boar represents the guts and bravery of the war; the wild boar head represents kindness and hospitality (just like serving the wild boar head in the feast), or the symbol of a hunter.

The following are the historical characters using wild boar as their coat of arms:
  • King Richard III; and
  • Campbell family in the Scottish Highlands.
The following are cities or team organizations that use wild boar as their coat of arms:
  • The First Italian Army (Legio I Italica), the Tenth Strait Army (Legio X Fretensis) and the Legio XX Valeria Victrix of the Roman Empire;
  • Eberbach in Germany;
  • Ebersbach an der Fils in Germany;
  • Ebersbach in Germany;
  • The rebellious forces of Serbia’s first uprising in 1904;
  • Ardennes Forest, Belgium; and
  • Camsby, United Kingdom

Other wild boar
  • Dalin pig
  • Red River Pig
  • Deer pig
  • Warthog

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