PIG: The only other relative of Indian pigs are now found in South America and Africa.  Together with peccaries and Hippopotamuses, they from an order called Artiodactyls, which means even-toed animals.  The typical feature of a pig is its elongated movable snout, ending in a flat disk like surface supporting the nostrils.  Two species, the Indian wild boar and the pygmy hog are found in India.

BEHAVIOR:

1. HABITAT: They are present almost throughout the Indian sub-continent. Scanty bush jungles with clearing and grassy areas are its favorite haunts.  It always lives in proximity of water and enjoys wallowing in shallow pools.
2. UNIQUENESS: Pigs are general noisy animals.  They prefer to remain in groups, which is often a joint family.  Adult male wild boars are solitary.  The sharpest sense in a boar is that of smell; its sight and hearing are mediocre.  It is noted for its courage, determination, self-possessiveness and daring.
3. FOOD: Pigs love variety.  They eat roots, tubers, insects, mollusks, carrion, small mammals and even the remains of a tiger kill.  It is also a determined crop-raider and attacks cultivated areas near the forest edges.  In fact, a whole field of peanuts could be uprooted by a group of pigs, the males digging up the roots with their snout, in a night.
4. LOCOMOTION: Pigs are provided with four toes, which give them an even footing on uneven grounds.  They are fast runners in spite of their stocky built and short legs.

FAMILY:

1. BREEDING: Pigs seem to breed through out the year.  Male-male combats have been recorded during the breeding season.  Once 11 master-males were seen competing quite obviously for the best sow.
2. OFFSPRING: A sow bearing 4-6 young in a litter, after a gestation period of 4 months.  Parental care is shown in the form of nest building and protecting them once they are born.

 FACTS:

1. ANCESTRY: Though a single species of wild boar is now found in India, in ancient times, some 6-7 species inhabited the country.  Most of the present day, pigs possibly evolved from a monster from which was the largest of kind.
2. NUMBERS: Pigs breed profusely throughout the year.  A litter of 4-6 is rather normal.  However, this is one animal that is heavily predated upon by man and beast alike and habitat destruction has led to a decrease in its numbers in many areas.
3. PREDATORS: The protein-rich meat of pigs is favored by all.  They are savored by tigers, leopards, crocodiles and even wild dogs.  Pig sticking and hunting is still a form of obtaining regular food by tribals in many parts of the pig’s body.
4. MYTHS: Pigs have been abhorred in all the religions possibly because of their feeding habits.  A Hindu God is said to have been incarnated as a boar once, but instances of worshipping.

 TYPES OF PIGS:

1. PYGMY HOG (Sus Salvanius): Pygmy hogs are pigs in miniature.  It was rediscovered in 1971 in the tall grasslands of Assam and Northeast India.  Unlike its cousin, the wild bore; it has a short tail snout and ears.  In addition, usually moves in a group of 5-20 animals, Nocturnal in habit, it feed on roots, bulbs, insects and lizards.  The young, usually numbering four, are born during April-May.
2. INDIAN WILD BORE (Sus Serofa): This is large, heavily built animal, with a grayish black body coot and a mane of thick black hairs running over it.  A very noisy feeder, it lives in small groups of a single family.  Adult male boars tend to be solitary.  ‘Omnivorous’ (Organism eating both plants and animals) in diet, it is noted for its courage and determination.  They are known to breed throughout the year.  The gestation period is four, months, with 4-6 young born at a time.  The snow makes a nest of grass and leaves on the ground.