Pigs, Boars and Warthogs

PIGS, BOARS AND WARTHOGS
Mammals - Vertibrate - Herbivores

WARTHOG

PIGLET

Male: Boar

Female: Sow, Gilt

Young: Piglet,
Shoat/Shote (young, just weaned)

PIGS
There are 73 species of pig.

Are considered to be the 4th most intelligent animal in the world.
Like to be a group and snuggle up together, nose to nose.
Are social animals and like to sleep together - body heat provides warmth in cooler weather and provides a sense of safety and protection.
Farm pigs eat corn, potatoes, grains and soya beans.
Like to listen to music, playing with footballs and being massaged.
Are intelligent animals - as are apes and dolphins.
Have a good sense of direction.
Can run at speeds of about 11 miles per hour.
Eat slowly and actually savour their food.
Drinks about 14 gallons of water a day.
Are clean animals and would prefer not to soil their sleeping area.
Have an excellent and remarkable sense of smell.
Don't sweat.
Are not aggressive.
Like to bathe in water and mud.
Make good pets.
A pig raised on meat is called a hog.
Female who has not had piglets is called a Gilt.
Female who has had piglets is called a Sow.
Sows will sing to their young.
Swine also refers to pigs, hogs and boars.
Like to communicate with one another and do this constantly.
Have more than 20 vocalisations.
Suffer from anorexia.
Can suffer from 'mysophobia' - a fear of mud.
Cannot look up at the sky.
Pigs like to eat Truffles - one of the world's most expensive foods.
The Pigs that trained to hunt for Truffles are called Trufflehogs. Female pigs are better Truffle hunters
Wild boars wash their food.

WARTHOGS

Are wild pigs living in the Central Africa and from coast to coast.
Have four tusks.
Are very gentle creatures and avoid fights.
Eat grasses, plants, berries and seeds (sometimes carrion).
Use their snout to dig for roots and bulbs etc.
Can go for long periods without water - even several months in the dry season.
Like to wallow in mud.
Oxpecker birds relieve the warthogs of ticks and other insects that feed on them.
Main predators are lions, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and hyenas.
Can run at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour.
Run with their tails erect, like flagpoles.
Live in burrows and adults back into them, rather than going down head first - but their piglets go down head first.
Can reach speeds of 29 miles per hour.
Can live up to 15 years.

A KUNE KUNE PIG FROM NEW ZEALAND

SOWS AND PIGLETS

POT BELLIED PIG