An interesting note is that Potamochoerus porcus occurs on both mainland Africa as well as Madagascar. Two explanations for the radiation of this species to Madagascar from the mainland have been proposed. The first is that humans introduced the species. The second is that bush pigs first arrived on Madagascar as a result of floating on papyrus beds, which sometimes detach and float out to sea.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Numbers of Potamochoerus porcus are on the rise due to hunting of leopards and the increase in agriculture. Due to their availability as food sources for humans, and especially in light of their negative economic impacts on humans, bush pigs are hunted in Africa.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
With the reduction in populations of leopards, the bush pig's main predator, populations of the pig have been on the rise. This is detrimental in many ways to human populations because large groups of bush pigs can wreak considerable havoc on crops. They also eat livestock and can be carriers of diseases, such as African Swine Fever, which affect domestic livestock. African Swine fever is carried by ticks, and while it does not harm Potomachoerus porcus, they can transmit the disease to domestic pigs, in which the disease is fatal.
Potamochoerus porcus is a potential food source for humans. It has been suggested that it is possible to domesticate the bush pig.
Potamochoerus porcus is omnivorous, and is quite a generalist in terms of food preference. Food items include roots, fruit, seeds, water plants, nuts, grasses, crops, fungi, insects, bird eggs, snails, reptiles, carrion, and domestic animals such as piglets, goats, and sheep. They dig in soil using their canines for roots, bulbs and insects, but can also swim and forage for water plants. Bush pigs have been known to follow chimpanzees in search of fallen fruit. They especially enjoy the seeds of the tree Balanites wilsoniana, which they find undigested in the feces of elephants.
West and Central Sub-Saharan Africa to Northern South Africa and Madagascar.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
The habitats occupied by this species vary greatly. They inhabit primary and secondary forests, thickets in savannahs, swamps, and steppes. They also congregate around human villages.
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 20.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 15.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 20.0 years.
With thirteen recognized sub-species (which are subdivided into two separate species in some texts), Potamochoerus porcus varies in physical characteristics across its range, especially with regard to coloration. West-African bush pigs are predominantly reddish with a white dorsal stripe, while in the eastern and southern parts of their range, bush pigs can vary from red to shades of brown or black. In some eastern and southern regions, they become darker with age. White facial masks are present on many bush pigs. The head and body length is approximately 1-1.5 meters while the tail is between 0.3 and 0.4 meters. Adults stand about 0.5-0.9 meters tall at the shoulder. Newborns weigh less than 1 kg. Other prominent features include ventrally-pointing upper tusks (76mm) which occlude with dorsally-pointing lower tusks (165-190mm). Tusks occur on both sexes. Males are distinctive from females in that they posess warts above their eyes. Bush pigs have also been referred to as "tufted pigs" due to their long, white whiskers and ear tufts.
Range mass: 46 to 130 kg.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Females are reproductively mature at age three. Their gestation period is approximately 120-127 days and their litter sizes range from 1-6, with average littlers containing four individuals. Young weigh between 650-900g. The breeding season lasts from September to April and is at its peak during the wet season from November to February. Sows construct grass nests (3 meters wide by 1 meter deep). Bush pigs are monogamous and both the mother and dominant boar of the small familial group supply care and protection to the young. Females give birth once annually.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average birth mass: 775 g.
Average gestation period: 122 days.
Average number of offspring: 3.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 1096 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 1096 days.
The red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) or bushpig (a name also used for Potamochoerus larvatus), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarely seen away from rainforests, and generally prefers areas near rivers or swamps.[2]
The red river hog has striking orange to reddish-brown fur, with black legs and a tufted white stripe along the spine. Adults have white markings around the eyes and on the cheeks and jaws; the rest of the muzzle and face are a contrasting black. The fur on the jaw and the flanks is longer than that on the body, with the males having especially prominent facial whiskers. Unlike other species of pig native to tropical Africa, the entire body is covered in hair, with no bare skin visible.[3]
Adults weigh 45 to 115 kg (99 to 254 lb) and stand 55 to 80 cm (22 to 31 in) tall, with a length of 100 to 145 cm (39 to 57 in).[2] The thin tail is 30 to 45 cm (12 to 18 in) long[2] and ends in a tuft of black hair. The ears are also long and thin, ending in tufts of white or black hair that may each 12 cm (4.7 in) in length. Boars are somewhat larger than sows, and have distinct conical protuberances on either side of the snout and rather small, sharp tusks. The facial protuberances are bony and probably protect the boar's facial tendons during head-to-head combat with other males.[3]
Red river hogs have a dental formula of 3.1.3–4.33.1.3–4.3, similar to that of wild boar. Both sexes have scent glands close to the eyes and on the feet; males have additional glands near the tusks on the upper jaw and on the penis. There is also a distinctive glandular structure about 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter on the chin, which probably has a tactile function. Females have six teats.[3]
The red river hog lives in rainforests, wet dense savannas, and forested valleys, and near rivers, lakes and marshes. The species' distribution ranges from the Congo area and Gambia to the eastern Congo, southwards to the Kasai and the Congo River. The exact delineation of its range versus that of the bushpig is unclear; but in broad terms, the red river hog occupies western and central Africa, and the bushpig occupies eastern and southern Africa.[3] Where the two meet, they are sometimes said to interbreed,[4] although other authorities dispute this.[3] Although numerous subspecies have been identified in the past, none are currently recognised.[3]
Red river hogs are often active during the day, but are primarily nocturnal or crepuscular.[5] They typically live in small groups of approximately six to ten animals, composed of a single adult male, and a number of adult females and their young.[3] However, much larger groups, some with over 30 individuals, have been noted in particularly favourable habitats.[6] The boar defends his harem aggressively against predators, with leopards being a particularly common threat.[7]
They communicate almost continuously with grunts and squeals with a repertoire that can signal alarm, distress, or passive contact.[2]
The species is omnivorous, eating mainly roots, bulbs, and tubers, and supplements its diet with fruit, seeds, nuts, water plants, grasses, herbs, fungi, eggs, dead animal and plant remains, insects, snails, lizards, other reptiles, and domestic animals such as piglets, goats, and sheep.[8] It uses its large muzzle to snuffle about in the soil in search of food, as well as scraping the ground with their tusks and fore-feet. They can cause damage to agricultural crops, such as cassava and yams.[3]
Red river hogs breed seasonally, so that the young are born between the end of the dry season in February and the midpoint of the rainy season in July.[2] The oestrus cycle lasts 34 to 37 days.[9] The male licks the female's genital region before mating, which lasts about five to ten minutes. Gestation lasts 120 days.[2]
The mother constructs a nest from dead leaves and dry grass before giving birth to a litter of up to six piglets, with three to four being most common.[3] The piglets weigh 650 to 900 g (23 to 32 oz) at birth, and are initially dark brown with yellowish stripes and spots. They are weaned after about four months, and develop the plain reddish adult coat by about six months; the dark facial markings do not appear until they reach adulthood at about two years of age. They probably live for about fifteen years in the wild.[3]
The red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) or bushpig (a name also used for Potamochoerus larvatus), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarely seen away from rainforests, and generally prefers areas near rivers or swamps.
