Pictures and facts about the Pygmy hog

Pygmy hog

Order : Artiodactyla
Family : Suidae
Subfamily : Suinae
Species : Sus salvanius

The Pygmy hog (Sus salvanius) is an endangered species of wild pig, and can only be found in the North-east of India in the state Assam. Once they were found throughout Bhutan, Northern India, and Nepal. Estimates of the world population are between 100 and a few hundred individuals. Although they are one of the most threatened species of all mammals, thanks to conservation measures and breeding programs their numbers improve. The reason for their decline is a combination of habitat destruction, overgrazing by domestic livestock, commercial forestry and flood control projects. In the wild they live in tall and dense grassland. Their diet consists of roots, tubers and sometimes insects, invertebrates, eggs and young birds. Pygmy hogs build nests by diggin a trough with their snout and covering it with grasses. This helps them to keep themselves warm in cold weather.

Interesting fact: The pygmy hog is the smallest pig in the world.

Links National Geographic article on pygmy hogs conservation

Image of the pygmy hog by Alessio Marrucci, licensed under GFDL

Facts about the pygmy hog

Pygmy hogs are small wild pigs weighing about 8.

The Pigmy Hog (Sus salvanius) is the smallest and the rarest wild suid in the world.

The pygmy hog is currently classified as a critically endangered species.

6 lbs) Sus salvanius is the smallest suid known. (Full text)

Geographic Range The present range of Sus salvanius (commonly known as the pygmy hog) is found only in the reserve forest belts of the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and the Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary in northwestern Assam, India. (Full text)

Pygmy hogs are listed under CITES Appendix I. (Full text)

USFWS Refuges on which the Pygmy hog is reported. (Full text)

The pigmy hog (Sus salvanius) is a shy and retiring wild creature of northeastern India. (Full text)

HOG (Sus Salvanius): Pygmy hogs are pigs in miniature. (Full text)

"The pygmy hog is an important indicator species, and we need to know why it is disappearing faster than other less sensitive species," said Narayan. (Full text)

The Pygmy Hogs are all set to stage a come back into human reckoning. (Full text)

Pictures: Pygmy Hog #1 (14 Kb JPEG); Pygmy Hog #2 (15 Kb JPEG) The pygmy hog is a small wild pig weighing about 8. (Full text)

Range - The Pygmy Hog is found only in the reserve forest belts of the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and the Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary in northwestern Assam, India. (Full text)

Introduction The pygmy hog is the (Full text)

Pygmy hogs are now reduced to only two known, isolated populations in the few remaining tall grasslands of north-western Assam. (Full text)

Pigmy hog rescue Posted: 23 Mar 2001The pigmy hog (Sus salvanius) is the world's smallest, rarest and probably the most specialised wild pig. (Full text)

The pygmy hog is the smallest. (Full text)

Thus, Ploughshare Tortoises and other Malagasy chelonians are now being bred in a sanctuary in Madagascar, Pygmy Hogs are breeding in a centre in Assam, and a whole host of endangered Mascarene fauna is being bred at the Gerald Durrell Endemic Wildlife Sanctuary in Mauritius. (Full text)

Roy, 1993) Conservation Status The pygmy hog is currently classified as a critically endangered species (Full text)

CONSERVATION PROJECTS The Pygmy Hog is protected by Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. (Full text)