Bushpig pictures and facts

The Bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus) typically has a body length of 1 to 1.5 meters, a tail length of 30 to 40 centimeters, weighing from 50 kg up to 115. Its coat could be a pale red or brown up to a near-black shade. Its pale head often has white spots, but from birth, the young have yellow or brown stripes. Bushpigs have long tails, whose ends are tufted. Basically, its body is round, with quite short legs. The male ones have a ridge at the mouth area and speaking of their tusks, a Bushpig's upper tusk can barely be seen by the human eye, but the lower tusks are very sharp.

Sexual maturity of these Bushpigs occur starting at 18 months, and the life expectancy is two decades. Prior to birth, a female Bushpig would stay at a secluded nest. They are predominantly nocturnal, and their resting areas are usually those with thick vegetation. They are a lot of times found taking the footsteps of fruit-eating monkeys, taking in the leftovers from these animals. Prevailing sounds are grunts and squeals. Besides the said discarded fruits, other items of their "diet" are roots, small animals and grass.

In case you are wondering, they are located in grasslands, woodlands (of the moist kind) and the swamp areas of Madagascar and Africa. A Bushpig is very rare if we talked of captivity outside the nation of origin, but a few have been recorded from some American and European collections.

Breeding while in captivity has been very rare, for differing causes.

In Guinea and Sierra Leone, they are still unshielded by law, as opposed to the other nations where they could only be gunned hunted if it's open season for the hunters.

Interesting fact: In Burundi, the Bushpigs are protected by the law at all times, it is one of the very few places on earth that shows total commitment to the preservation of these animals.