Bushpig

Introduction: The bushpig (Potamochoerus porcus) belongs to the Order Artiodactyla, or hoofed herbivorous mammals, the same as the warthog. There are some similarities between the two, although the bushpig is probably not quite so ugly as the warthog. Bushpigs are strong, stocky and cunning animals and owes its increase in number to the decline in the leopard's, its main natural predator.

Bushpigs are social animals that live in groups of 6 to 8 animals, led by a dominant pair. All male groups occur, as do individuals. They can be a very dangerous animal when cornered or threatened and their lower incisors can pack a nasty bite. Dominant boars defend their own feeding grounds, but fights are generally restricted to tail wagging, pawing the ground and rolling and hair raising. Bushpigs have a life expectancy of 13 years, especially if they can keep out of range of a rifle's foresight whilst rummaging around the garden for some tomatoes or root vegetables.

Distribution: The forest and riverine vegetation areas along the Zambezi Region (formerly the Caprivi Strip), especially dense thickets or tall grass for cover, but access to water is vital.

Diet: Plant roots, bulbs, tubers and fruits are eked out using the upper edge of the snout. Insect larvae is dug out of moist earth and leaf-litter. They have been known to eat carrion and the killing of small animals has been reported. Their liking for food crops such as maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cane and especially sugar, more often than not attracts the bushpig to human settlements, notably farms, where they are considered a pest.

Colouring: Brownish-black or reddish, long, bristle-like hair that is whitish around the face and neck.

Breeding: Litter sizes are usually 3 or 4 piglets which are born with pale, longitudinal stripes, a camouflage and survival aid. Gestation periods are around 4 months. Sows 'litter down' in a nest built of bundles of grasses that they burrow into once they reach the size of a small haystack. They have also been known to give birth in the stumps of hollow trees. Piglets are cared and protected for by boars for about six months, once they join a sounder, but are driven away by the dominant pair at this stage.

Size: Adults stand from between 0.55-0.9m at the shoulder

Weight: 60kg-100kg