Bushpig

Potamochoerus larvatus

General Description

Scientific Name: Potamochoerus larvatus

Subspecies: 6 subspecies

West Madagascan Bushpig (P. larvatus larvatus)
Eastern Madagascan Bushpig (P. larvatus edwardsi)
Ethiopian Bushpig (P. larvatus hassama)
Cape Bushpig (P. larvatus koiropotamus)
Eastern Bushpig (P. larvatus nyasae)
Somali Bushpig (P. larvatus somaliensis)

Status: Least Concern (Decreasing)

Population Estimate: Unknown

Population in Assessed Areas: Unassessed

Diet: Herbivore - browser & grazer.

Male Size: 60-80 (up to 150) Kgs

Female Size: 45-70 Kgs

Trophy Size:

Generation Length: Unknow

Reproductive Season: October - Febuary

Time of Activity: Diurnal

Description: Adult bushpigs stand from 66 to 100 cm (26 to 39 in) at the shoulder, and mature boars can reach a weight of 150 kg (330 lb), although 60 to 80 kg (130 to 180 lb) is more common.Sows are 45 to 70 kg (99 to 154 lb). They resemble the domestic pig, and can be identified by their pointed, tufted ears and face mask. Bushpigs vary in hair colour and skin colour over their range, southern koiropotamus and nyasae populations are dark reddish, sometimes almost black. The coat colour darkens with age. Their heads have a 'face mask' with a contrasting pattern of blackish to dark brown and white to dark grey markings, or may sometimes be completely whitish. The ears have tassels of long hairs. Their very sharp tusks are fairly short and inconspicuous. Unlike warthogs, bushpigs run with their long and thin tails down.

Males are normally larger than females. Old males develop two warts on their snout. Piglets are born with pale yellowish longitudinal stripes on a dark brown background; these soon disappear and the coat becomes reddish brown, with a black and white dorsal crest in both sexes. This mane bristles when the animal becomes agitated.

Ecology: The main habitat requirement is dense cover, bushpigs avoid open forests or savannas. Bushpigs can be found in forests with high trees, montane forests, forest fringes, thick bushveld, gallery forests, flooded forest, swampland or cultivated areas as habitat. It occurs up to 4,000 metres in altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Bushpigs are quite social animals, found in sounders of up to twelve, but usually 3-5. A typical group will consist of a dominant male and a dominant female, with other females and juveniles accounting for the rest. Groups engage in ritual aggressive behavior when encountering each other, but will actually fight for large food sources. Sounders have home ranges, but are not territorial and different home ranges overlap. Groups generally keep away from each other. All intruders near the sounder are attacked, also non-bushpigs. Home ranges are 400 to 1,000 hectares, in Knysna (a forest region) the average was 720 hectare. Small bachelor groups of young males also form, these have ranges which overlay those of a few. The young males will avoid the sounders to escape confrontation.

They are omnivorous and their diet can include roots, crops, succulents water sedges, rotten wood, insects, small reptiles, eggs, nestlings and carrion, tubers, bulbs and fruit are the most important food. Eggs and nestlings are also a favorite. Both fresh and very rotten carrion is eaten. Small young antelope are stalked and consumed. A behavior observed in Uganda is to follow a troop of monkeys or baboons in the trees above to feed on the falling fruit and peels. During droughts high mortalities have occurred in South Africa. In South Africa, 40% of the diet was tubers and other underground plant parts, 30% was herbage, 13% fruit, 9% animal matter and 8% fungi.

It is known for destructive grubbing, uprooting shrubs and scattering them around, unearthing all root crops, feeding on only a few, and trampling the rest. Favorite crops are pô-pô, sugarcane, bananas and maize. It cuts down such taller plants at their base to reach the fruit. Other preferred agricultural crops are beans, peas, groundnuts, potatoes, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, pineapple, spanspek, watermelon, nuts, alfalfa, and green pasture. Chicken pens are often destroyed and raided. There are also a few incidents of bushpig breaking into domestic pig paddocks to kill and eat both the sows and the young piglets.

The pigs are essentially nocturnal, hiding in very dense thickets during the day. They never hide in aardvark burrows. Leopards are their main predator, combatting leopards has increased bushpig numbers.

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Behavior: Bushpigs are very aggressive and extremely powerful. In one case a game scout was forced to spend three days in a tree avoiding a stalking bushpig. Wounded bushpig are very dangerous; their spoor should not be followed alone. They are fast, and can swim well. Bushpig will range up to 4 km from their hide in a night to feed. A 1990 study in the Cape found an average daily movements of 3 km, with an amplitude of 0.7 to 5.8 km.

Reproduction Litters of one to nine, usually three, young are born. From mating to the end of the gestation is a period of eight to ten months. After six months of age the alpha sows will aggressively chase the young males off, she will do the same to a few one to two year old beta sows. Young males are socially mature at 30 months of age. Mating mostly occurs in late autumn to early winter. Farrowing may occur at any time of the year but there is a pronounced peak in the warmest part of the summer (from October to February in South Africa).

The alpha sow builds a nest three metre wide and one metre high during the winter, with bedding consisting of stacked hay, twigs or plant debris from floods, to keep the litter of piglets for approximately four months while they wean. The males are the main care-givers, the sows only visit the nest to wean the piglets. Sows have six teats.

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Conservation Analysis

Current & Historic range: The Bushpig ranges from southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea southwards through East Africa and eastern and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo to Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. There are isolated populations in Angola (and nearby from the lower Zaire River in DRC). In southern Africa, they are absent from Namibia, though they may occur in the Caprivi Strip. In South Africa, they are found in the northern and eastern parts of the country (and neighbouring Swaziland) to southern KwaZulu-Natal.

There is then a break in their distribution and they reappear as isolated populations in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces. they have been introduced on Madagascar and the Comoro Islands (Mayotte) off the east coast of Africa

Current & Historic Populations: Both the current and historic population estimates of this species are unknown to science, largely because of it's almost completely nocturnal and reclusive nature, that makes counting of this species extremely difficult. It's likely though that as agriculture has expanded into areas of their historical range, this species has been exploited greatly, resulting in significant population reduction compared to 100-200 years ago.

Population densities in southern Cape forests, South Africa, range between 0.3 and 0.5/km2.

Map of Bushpig Distribution

Threats to Species Survival: There are no major known threats. They may be subject to localized declines and range contractions in some areas due to large-scale habitat destruction or as a result of hunting for crop protection and local consumption. In southern Africa, they are sporadically subject to official population control measures when they feed on crops. However, their preferred habitat, nocturnal habits and relatively high reproductive potential are such that it has proved generally difficult to eliminate Bushpig from larger tracts of relatively densely vegetated habitat. Nevertheless, with increasing human population pressure Bushpig populations are likely to become increasingly threatened in the future.

Using packs of specially trained dogs to hunt is more efficient, but dogs may be killed by the boars if they are not careful. Another way of killing the pigs is to make a large and very sturdy boma with a closing mechanism and regularly stock it with feed for a period of two or three months, before engaging the mechanism with a whole sounder or more inside. Setting this up must be done carefully by the same person alone in the same shoes, so as not to arouse the hogs' suspicion.

In Southern Africa governments organize periodic culls to reduce bushpig numbers. The governments of Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in the 1940s) also have. In Madagascar this might also be necessary to protect other native species, since Bush Pigs were introduced into this ecosystem. Such culling's have generally been unsuccessful.

Recommended Conservation Actions:

Increased monitoring of the impacts of culling and habitat loss on Bush pig populations.
Increase the use of sustainable hunting to add value to bushpig populations overwise deemed vermin.
Improve survey methods to get accurate population data, such as implementing long-term monitoring programs. This species would greatly benefit from the use of Camera traps to monitor populations.

Economic & Cultral Analysis

Ecotourism Value: Low

Hunting Value: High

Meat Value: High

Average Trophy Value: $800-1,200 USD

Meat Yield per Animal: 30-40 kg

Economic Value/Impacts: In some regions, particularly rural areas, Bushpig and other wildlife species serve as a source of protein and sustenance for local communities. They are of little value to the ecotourism industry, mostly because they are almost completely nocturnal, and because they are a little known species to most tourists.

The common warthog is of reasonable value to the hunting industry. Though similar in size and with a smaller trophy than Warthogs, they usually fetch a higher price than their cousins. This is mostly because they are much more of a challenge to hunt (often requiring dogs), and occur at lower densities, so the availbilty of trophies is much less.

Cultural Value: Bushpigs have been pursued as prey by hunter gatherer tribes thousands of years, being a staple food source for communities in many areas, especially due to their smaller size, palatable flesh, and ability to be hunted with the assistance of packs of dogs. Both local and international hunters pursue this species on a regular basis.

They have been intentionally introduced to Madagascar, likely as a potential food source, indicating that their meat has long been desired by local people. Its meat is considered a delicacy in South Africa; prices have fluctuated widely between 1995 and 2005. Throughout Africa, it is almost exclusively sold in local markets, although meat sometimes turns up in the larger towns or cities. It is often the main money maker for hunters in Gabon, constituting up to 80% of the total income. Hunters generally consume only about a third themselves, the rest is sold as bushmeat. In northern Zambian National Parks, it is sometimes a main target of poaching for bushmeat. It is leaner than pork.