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Wild
boar
Sus scrofa
Family Suidae |
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The tame wild boar
is a favourite photo subject
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Wild
boar are common on Pulau Ubin, including the coastal forest surrounding
Chek Jawa. Truly wild Wild boar are shy and seldom seen by visitors.
To see them, move quietly. They are more active in the early morning
and late evening and are attracted to fruiting trees, where to feed
on the fallen fruits.
Leave them alone! Wild boar are
shy but can be aggressive when cornered. Mothers can be particularly
dangerous when protecting their young. Wild boar can run fast and
swim well.
Untamed pigs: Wild boar are the
wild ancestors of our domesticated pigs. Compared to domesticated
pigs, Wild boar are thinner, have coarser hair and longer tusks. Males
are larger than females and have sharp tusks (canine teeth).
Priscilla the Pig! On Chek Jawa,
you might be approached by a friendly wild boar. The story goes that
as an infant, she was hand-raised by the villagers of Chek Jawa. When
the villagers left, they had to leave her behind. She seems to be
doing fine foraging on her own in the coastal hill forest and along
the seashore. She is not shy of humans, but is still wary and may
bite if she feels threatened. So please don't touch her. Her Chinese
name is apparently 'Wei Wei', but the recent visitors call her 'Priscilla
the Pig'. She greets almost anyone who visits Chek Jawa!
Please don't feed Priscilla!
Pigging Out: Wild boar
eat mostly fallen fruits. They also eat tubers and roots, using their
mobile snouts to sniff out and dig up edibles. Sometimes, you might
come across holes on the shore where wild boar have been foraging.
They also snack on small animals that they can catch.
Wild boar babies: Females and
their young may form small herds of 6-10. Males are usually solitary
outside of mating season. Females are able to breed at eight months
old, but males usually don't breed until they are big enough to compete
with adult males. Females breed throughout the year, often at eight
month intervals. Each female may have a litter of 5-6 up to 8 young.
The female makes a shelter for her babies out of branches, leaves
and grass. Babies have white stripes down their backs so they look
like brown-and-white oval watermelons on legs!
Human uses: Wild boar are found
almost everywhere in the world. Their original range was in the Asian
subcontinent and Europe, but they have been introduced elsewhere.
Domestication was believed to have begun 5,000 years ago. Pigs are
useful as a source of meat as they eat almost anything, converting
garbage into good meat. However, their indiscrimate feeding habits
make them susceptible to internal parasites which is why pork must
be thoroughly cooked before it is eaten. The pig's highly sensitive
sense of smell is also exploited in France, where trained pigs are
used to sniff out highly prized truffles.
Status and threats: Wild boar
proliferate on Pulau Ubin as their natural predators like tigers and
other wild cats are no longer common. Uncontrolled populations of
wild boar can wreck havoc on a habitat as Wild boar are voracious
and destructive as they feed. |
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Sniffing out a meal |
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quick
facts
Adults up to 2m, 200kg. Common in the coastal hill forest
and elsewhere on Ubin |
