Giant forest pig
| Giant forest pig | ||||||||||||
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Giant Forest Pig ( Hylochoerus meinertzhageni ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Hylochoerus | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1904 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Hylochoerus meinertzhageni | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1904 |
The Giant Forest Pig ( Hylochoerus meinertzhageni ) is a species of mammal from the family of real pigs (Suidae) living in western and central Africa .
features
The giant forest pig is the largest representative of the real pigs. They reach head torso lengths of 130 to 210 centimeters, a shoulder height of 76 to 110 centimeters and a weight of 130 to 275 kilograms. The average size in the distribution area increases towards the east, and males are significantly heavier than females. The fur is black in color, long and rough, and can fall out with age, which makes the dark skin look bare. The large head with the large proboscis and the pronounced cheek bulges are striking, especially in the boar. The canines are strong, but shorter than those of the warthog .
distribution and habitat
Giant forest pigs live in Africa, their range extends from Guinea to Tanzania . There are three geographically separated subspecies along the equator : the western giant forest hog is distributed from Guinea to Ghana , the central African subspecies in Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo, and the eastern one lives in a larger area that extends from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Ethiopia and Tanzania enough. Their habitats are mainly tropical rainforests , more rarely tree and thorn bush savannas .
Way of life
Giant forest pigs live in groups that usually consist of one male, one to four females and the offspring of several generations. A group's territory can be up to 10 square kilometers; the grazing areas of different groups can overlap. The males take over the defense of the group and attack predators such as leopards and spotted hyenas - humans are also sometimes attacked. For the leadership role in a group, the males can fight bitterly, ramming their heads against each other, which can also end with the skull fracture of one of the opponents.
With regard to the activity times, there are different statements, some observations speak for a diurnal lifestyle, while other research results tend to assume that they mainly go for food at dusk and in the early night.
food
Giant Forest Pigs feed almost exclusively on plants, they prefer soft grass, herbs and young shoots or leaves of special bushes. Unlike other pigs, they don't root or dig for roots.
Reproduction
After a gestation period of around five months, the female gives birth to two to four young animals. The female builds a nest at birth, and after a week she rejoins the group with the offspring. The young animals are weaned after around nine weeks, and sexual maturity occurs at around 18 months.
Giant forest pigs and people
Giant forest pigs only became known to science very late. The first scientific description of the animal comes from the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas in 1904 . The specific epithet honors the discoverer, the British officer and naturalist Richard Meinertzhagen .
Today their habitat is severely fragmented and poaching is frequent, hunting and the destruction of their habitat are the main threats. The species as a whole is not yet endangered despite decreasing populations. In Equatorial Guinea , however, it is already extinct and the IUCN suspects that the animals in Rwanda are also extinct.
All previous attempts to keep giant forest pigs in zoological gardens failed. Animals kept in the zoos of Antwerp, London, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main only survived for a short time and did not reproduce. Grzimek suspected that this was due to a lack of knowledge of food and other vital needs. The San Diego Zoo currently holds a female specimen of the Hylochoerus meinertzhageni ivoriensis subspecies .
The locals associate them with all kinds of popular beliefs. Since the males sometimes attack people, they are feared in some places.
literature
- J.-P. d'Huart: Monograph of the giant forest pig (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni). In: Bongo. 18, 1991, pp. 103-118.
- S. Fimpel: On the ecology and ethology of the African giant forest pig (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni meinertzhageni, Thomas) field studies in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. FU Berlin, Institute for Biology, 2002 (diploma thesis)
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- J.-P. d'Huart: The Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni). In: W. L. R. Oliver (Ed.): Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos. Status Survey and Action Plan. IUCN, Gland 1993, pp. 84-93.
- CR Schmidt: Pigs. In: Bernhard Grzimek: Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals Volume 5. McGraw-Hill, New York 1990, pp. 20-47.
Web links
- Hylochoerus meinertzhageni in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: J.-P. d'Huart, H. Klingel , 2008. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
- Virtual Zoo: WAZA data sheet