Visayan Warty Pig
Sus cebifrons negrinus
Boars will be boars
Visayan warty pigs are sociable and usually peaceable animals. But as mating season approaches, the boars get possessive and start fighting fiercely over the females. The warts that give these pigs their name actually protect the boars’ eyes and faces during the testosterone-fuelled battles.
Characteristics
- Origin
The Visayan Islands in the Philippines
- Habitat
Forests, up to 1,600 m altitude
- Diet
Visayan warty pigs eat plants, roots, bulbs, and invertebrates.
- Status
Critically endangered
- Size
up to one meter long
- Weight
approx. 35-80 kg
- Gestation period
125 days
- Achievable age
up to 10 years in natural habitat, up to 25 years in human care
Threat Categories of IUCN
Critically endangered
Massive clearance of the Visayan warty pigs’ rainforest home is threatening their very survival. Also, the pigs are a source of food for the local population, most of whom live in poverty. In the past, these pigs roamed across six large Philippine islands, but today they are only found on Negros and Panay.
Did you know?
Visayan warty pig boars can be identified by their stiff, spiky crests and manes.
These pigs mainly live together in families of two parents and their piglets.
Visayan warty pig sows build a comfortable nest of vegetation to give birth in.
