Wild Boar
Wild Boar
Fossil range: Early Pleistocene – Recent
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Artiodactyla
Family:
Suidae
Genus:
Sus
Species:
S. scrofa
Binomial name
Sus scrofa
Linnaeus, 1758
The wild boar (Sus scrofa) or wild hog, colloquially re-
ferred to as "the Boar," is a species of a pig in the biolo-
gical family Suidae and the wild ancestor of the domestic
pig.[2] It is native across much of Central Europe, the
Mediterranean Region (including North Africa’s Atlas
Mountains) and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia,
and has been introduced elsewhere.
Although common in France, the wild boar became
extinct in Great Britain and Ireland by the 17th century,
but wild breeding populations have recently returned in
some areas, particularly the Weald, following escapes
from boar farms.[3]
Name
The term boar is used to denote an adult male of certain
species—including, confusingly, domestic pigs. However,
for wild boar, it applies to the whole species, including,
for instance, "sow wild boar" or "wild boar piglet".[4]
Physical characteristics
Wild boar skeleton
The body of the wild boar is compact; the head is large,
the legs relatively short. The fur consists of stiff bristles
and usually finer fur. The colour usually varies from
dark grey to black or brown, but there are great regional
differences in colour; even whitish animals are known
from central Asia.[5] During winter the fur is much
denser.
Adult boars average 120–180 cm in length and have a
shoulder height of 90 cm.[6] As a whole, their average
weight is 50–90 kg kilograms (110–200 pounds), though
boars show a great deal of weight variation within their
geographical ranges.[7] In central Italy their weight usu-
ally ranges from 80 to 100 kg; boars shot in Tuscany have
been recorded to weigh 150 kg (331 lb). A French speci-
men shot in Negremont forest in Ardenne in 1999
weighed 227 kg (550 lb). Carpathian boars have been re-
corded to reach weights of 20