Zoo/Wild Animal Breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health Care

SWINE GROUP

• The superfamily “suidoidae” comprises two families called as suidae and tayassuidae.
• Although the animals under these families are similar in shape, they differ in terms of anatomy as well as in the disease-susceptibility.

Tayassuids

• The tayassuidae (Tayassuids) consists of two native New world suids given below:
  • Collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu)
  • White lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari

Suids

• The suidae (suids) has two sub-genera in India. The Sus-the wild boar and Porcula-the Pigmy hog. The old world wild swine includes the wild boar (Sus scrofa) which was native to Asia and Europe.
• In India, wild pigs are seen through out the country in the forests.
• These are the prolific breeders. The body is stocky and barrel like with the motile snout that is truncated terminally and has a disk like cartilage in the tips.
• For rooting and turning the soil of surface, the snout is useful and the animals are having a thick layer of subcutaneous adipose tissues which is a characteristic feature of these animals.
  • Wild swine of North America :
    • Feral pigs
    • European wild swine
    • Native populations of collared peccaries .
  • Wild swine of Africa:
  • Giant forest pig ( Hylochoerus meinertzhageni)
  • Bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus)
  • Wart hog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus)

Note: In Java and Borneo, babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) are seen.

Pigmy hog

• These animals are seen in small herds of 5 to 20. It is the world’s smallest pig. These animals live in forested tracts of Sikkim and Assam. They are also present in Nepal and Bhutan.
• These animals are thought to be extinct once. The habitat preference of this species is similar to wild pigs and the two species are closely related to each other