An Invasive Species: the Wild Boar

The Arkansas Razorback, or commonly known as the Wild Boar is a species native to deciduous forests across Europe, Africa and Asia. The Wild Boar, a thriving mammal with numbers of species ranging from 4 to 25, the four main subspecies are determined by their location. The Arkansas Razorback, is a well known animal as it is found in a multitude of different places around the globe.

They are commonly known as European Wild Pigs, Hogs or simply Boars.Hogs are an average sized swine with a large head and top half of body, that creates a smaller lower half. The length of a hog can range from 21.6-39.3 inches , while at adulthood they can get as tall as 4 ft at the shoulder.Average weight among wild boars can be anywhere from 176-386 pounds, with the largest recorded weight for this species being, 1,051 pounds. Like mentioned earlier the color of a hog can range from brown to red, black or even grey based upon where they live in the world. These mammals might seem slow but they can get to seeds upward as 30 mph.

Although the Wild Boar is a force to be reckoned with this massive mammal has very poor eyesight with the culprit being they have really small eyes, adapting to have a bigger and better snout enables them to have an impressive sense of smell.The four subspecies are categorized by location, you can locate them in Europe, Africa, Asia; along with India and the Middle East, and in different habitats ranging from tropical jungles to grasslands, to their favorite deciduous broad-leaved forests where the vegetation is abundant. Wild Hogs are nocturnal animals and come out at night to hunt . Majority of their day consists of 12 hours sleeping. Female Wild Hogs are relatively sociable compared to males in their species, being apart of loose territories anywhere from 6-30 individuals known as sounders. Males however, are solo travelers for the majority of the year, the males can be fund interacting with the population during breeding season.

The Wild Boar is classified as an omnivore meaning they eat both plants and animals. The hogs favorite foods are berries, leaves and roots that they dig from the ground with their snouts.Wild Boars tend to have an average litter size of 4 - 6 piglets. Females stay with their piglets for the first weeks to ensure safety from predators. piglets are very vulnerable as they have light fur with cream and brown stripes that run the length of their backs, this is where the name “Arkansas Razorbacks “ is derived from , even though stripes will begin to disappear after a couple weeks. Once they have reached the tender age of two months old, they are ready to venture out on short foraging trips, before they are on their own at 7 months  

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