Wild boars are an important part of the web of life on Russia’s Far East. They reproduce quickly and grow big on the seeds of pine nuts found in the forests. In turn they provide food for large predators such as bears, tigers, and wolves.

What They Eat
Wild boars eat almost anything, including nuts, berries, roots, insects, and small animals.

Where They Live
The most widely distributed nonhuman mammals on earth, wild boars are native to forests and other habitats throughout central Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, and North Africa.

What They Do
Using their sharp hooves and rubbery snouts, wild boars root for food along the forest floor. They travel about in small groups and sleep curled up together.

How They’re Doing
Wild boars populations are declining in eastern Russian forests. Elsewhere populations have been lost due to hunting and habitat loss, or been altered by interbreeding with domestic pigs.

• Wild boars fight by slashing at each other’s shoulders, which have thickened skin and matted hair for protection.
• Boars’ short legs make it hard for them to move through snow and are probably what has kept them from thriving north of their current range
• The hair from the neck of wild boars was commonly used to make toothbrushes before synthetic materials were invented.
• Wild boars have a keen sense of hearing and smell, but poor eyesight.
• Wild boars bear large litters and breed year-round in mild climates. If they had sufficient resources and no predators, their numbers could double every four months.

Care at the Zoo

Enrichment isn't just for carnivores and primates; hoofed animals benefit from behavioral enrichment as well. Many hoofed animals that are prey for carnivores in nature have a keen flight response, so keepers balance the need for a stimulating environment with the potential for unfamiliar objects, movements, and individuals to be unwelcome additions to an animal's environment. In their natural environment wild boars usually forage for food, often by digging with their hooves and snouts. At the Zoo, the boars can dig in the sand both to search for hidden treats and to cool off on a hot summer day. If it gets really warm, the boars can also trigger a mister in the exhibit. Other forms of enrichment you might see the boars enjoying include pine trees, cornstalks, melons, browse, and sod.

Wild boars are common and in many places considered pests because of the damage they cause to crops and native plants. In the southern forests of Russia’s Far East, numbers have declined as forests have been altered by human activity.

Description
Short-legged and bulky with coarse, bristly hair, wild boars look like rough-and-rugged versions of the familiar farmyard hog. Adults range in color from brown to black; piglets have stripes that help camouflage them from predators. Both males and females have tusks, though the males’ are larger. The tusks grow continuously, but are worn down by use in foraging and fighting enemies.

Habits and Adaptations
Wild boars usually forage from dusk to dawn, digging for food with their muscular snout and sharp hooves. They rest occasionally, lying in close contact with one another. They are excellent swimmers. Females and young live together in small groups called drifts or sounders. These groups usually number about 20 animals, but some have been found that are over 50 animals. Wild boars huddle together for protection and for shelter and warmth in winter. Adult males are solitary except during mating season. Young males form bachelor herds until they are about 4 years old.

Eat and Be Eaten
Wild boars eat almost anything they find, including nuts, berries, carrion, roots, insects, small reptiles, and trash. In the southern forests of eastern Russia, they grow big on large, nutritious Korean pine nuts. Animals that eat wild boars include bears, wolves, tigers, leopards, and humans.

Life Cycle
In Russia’s Far East, young wild boars are born in the spring. Just before giving birth the female builds a large, vegetation-lined nest. Usually 4–8 young are born after a gestation of 112–120 days, although up to 12 young have been observed. Piglets have at least 10 vocal sounds and each mother recognizes her own young by their vocalizations. Piglets stay in the nest for the first 10 days, then stay with the mother before joining the sounder when they are about 3 months old. They are independent at 3 to 4 months and sexually mature at 18 months. Wild boars live an average of 10 years in the wild and up to 21 years in captivity.