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Sus verrucosusJavan pig

By Sara McMahon

Geographic Range

Javan warty pigs are distributed on the Indonesian Islands of Java, Bawean, and Madura, and is endemic to these islands. (Blouch, 1993)

Habitat

Sus verrucosus is found in secondary forest at elevation levels below 800 m. The distribution of these animals is fragmented, because human civilization and agricultural crops have taken over much of their natural habitat. (Blouch, 1993)

  • Range elevation
    800 (high) m
    2624.67 (high) ft

Physical Description

Javan warty pigs range in weight from 44 to 108 kg, and are 90 to 190 cm in length.

The most distinguishing characteristic of Sus verrucosus is the growth of three pairs of warts on its face. One pair is the preorbital, and the other two are the infraorbital and the larger mandibular warts.

All the members of this species have a long-haired mane that runs down the nape of the neck, along the spine and all the way to the rump. The mane becomes thinner as it extends posteriorly.

The hair of this species is usually a reddish color, with the underside sharply marked as the hair turns to a yellowish color.

These pigs have slender legs and a long tail. The tail has a small tuft of hair on it. The head is large, heavy and appears slightly convex when viewing it in profile. The face is long, and the ears are large. The dental formula is 1/3,3/1,1/2,3/3. (Blouch, 1993)

  • Range mass
    44 to 108 kg
    96.92 to 237.89 lb
  • Range length
    90 to 190 cm
    35.43 to 74.80 in

Development

Piglets are very small when born and have faint stripes. Males grow up to two times the size of the female. A gonion wart forms late in life for males. This wart appears where a long tuft of hair has been growing on the gonion. (Day, 1985)

Reproduction

The mating system of this species has not been reported. However, other members of the genus Sus are polygynous. Males compete aggressively for sexual access to females. (Nowak, R. M., 1995)

Javan warty pigs have a gestation period of approximately four months. They give birth to three-nine young once a year during the rainy season between January and March. (Grzimek, B., 1972)

Within the genus Sus, neonates weigh between 500 and 1500 g. The young are born in a nest, where they stay for some time. Weaning occurs around 3 or 4 months of age. (Nowak, R. M., 1995)

The timing of reporoductive maturation has not been reported for this species. However, withing the genus, females may reach sexual maturity as early as 8 months of age. However, they usually do not breed until they are 1.5 years old. Males do not breed until they reach full size and are capable of competing for females-- around the age of 5 years. (Nowak, R. M., 1995)

  • Breeding interval
    These pigs typically produce one litter per year.
  • Breeding season
    Breeding in this species occurs between September and November, with births following in the rainy season.
  • Range number of offspring
    3 to 9
  • Average number of offspring
    6
    AnAge
  • Average gestation period
    4 months
  • Average gestation period
    120 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    Sex: female
    274 days
    AnAge

As in most mammals, the care of the young seems to be largely the concern of females of the species. Females build a nest for the young, which are born pretty helpless, and nurses them for approximately 3 to 4 months.

Females care for the young in groups with other females and their young, while males remain solitary. (Blouch, 1993; Grzimek, B., 1972)

  • Parental Investment
  • altricial
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-independence
    • protecting
      • female

Lifespan/Longevity

The avaerage life span of these animals is eight years, with few reaching fourteen year old. (Grzimek, B., 1972)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    14 (high) years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: wild
    14 (high) years
  • Average lifespan
    Status: wild
    8 years

Behavior

Most pigs are nocturnal or crepuscular. These animals are not very social. The females and their current young may all be found together, but adult males remain solitary unless breeding.

Javan warty pigs raise the long haired mane on the back when they feel threatened. The tail becomes erect and or curved when the animal is fleeing. A shrill whistle is sent out for an alarm. (Blouch, 1993)

Home Range

The home range size for these animals has not been reported. (Blouch, 1993)

Communication and Perception

These pigs can warn each other of danger with a shrill whistle. These animals probably also use a variety of visual cues, and have some tactile communication, especially between mates, and mothers and their offpsring. (Blouch, 1993)

Food Habits

Sus verrucosus is omnivorous. They are known to feed on vegetables, small mammals and human crops. (Nowak, R. M., 1995)

  • Animal Foods
  • mammals
  • Plant Foods
  • leaves
  • roots and tubers
  • wood, bark, or stems
  • seeds, grains, and nuts

Predation

Anitpredator adaptations have not been reported in this species. However, they are good runners, and tend to stick to areas where there is cover. One of their biggest predators, historically, has probably been humans, although tigers and leopards also prey on them. (Nowak, R. M., 1995)

Ecosystem Roles

These animals ar probably important in affecting the plants and animals upon which they feed. Because they are large, they are probably important in the diets of their predators, also.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

This species is hunted for its meat. It may also be an important resource for scientific research because they are similar to humans with an omnivorous diet, little body hair and a relatively high degree of intelligence. (Day, G. I., 1985; Grzimek, B., 1972)

  • Positive Impacts
  • food
  • research and education

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

avan warty pigs are a pest for human agriculture. (Tisdell, C. A., 1982)

  • Negative Impacts
  • crop pest

Conservation Status

Javan warty pigs are island endemic animals, with inherently restricted populations. They are threatened, as are many animals in the region, by shrinking habitat due to human encroachment. There are only a few Javan warty pigs in captivity. These pigs are put in breeding colonies, all of which are zoos in Eastern Java. (Nowak, R. M., 1995; Tisdell, C. A., 1982)

Contributors

Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.

Sara McMahon (author), Humboldt State University, Brian Arbogast (editor), Humboldt State University.

Glossary

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

island endemic

animals that live only on an island or set of islands.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

omnivore

an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

sexual ornamentation

one of the sexes (usually males) has special physical structures used in courting the other sex or fighting the same sex. For example: antlers, elongated tails, special spurs.

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

visual

uses sight to communicate

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

References

Blouch, R. 1993. The Javan Warty Pig (Sus verrucosus). Pp. 5.4 in W Oliver, ed. Pigs, peccaries, and hippos, Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, IUCN/SSC Hippo Specialist Group. Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Accessed August 27, 2007 at http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/pphsg/APchap5-4.htm.

Day, G. I., 1985. Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Grzimek, B., 1972. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. New York: Litton World Trade Corporation.

Nowak, R. M., 1995. "Pigs, Hogs, and Boars, Walker's Mammals of the World Online" (On-line). Accessed November 15, 2001 at http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/walker/artiodactyla.

Tisdell, C. A., 1982. ''Wild Pigs: Environmental Pest or Economic Resource ?". Sydney, Oxford, New York, Toronto, Paris, Frankfurt: Pergamon Press.

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