Red River Hog

Red River Hog
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Superorder:	Cetartiodactyla
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Suidae
Genus:	Potamochoerus
Species:	P. porcus
Binomial name
Potamochoerus porcus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus), also known as the Bush Pig (but not to be confused with P. larvatus, common name "Bushpig"), is a wild member of the pig family living in the rainforests, mountains and riparian scrub of Africa.

Red River Hogs eat grass, berries, roots, insects, molluscs, small vertebrates and carrion. They are capable of causing damage to plantations. Red River Hogs typically live in herds of 6-20 members led by a dominant boar. Sows rear 3-6 piglets at a time.

Description

The Red River Hog has striking red fur, with black legs and a tufted white stripe along the spine. They have white face markings around the eyes and on the cheeks and jaws; the rest of the muzzle and face are a contrasting black. The fur on the jaw and the flanks is longer than on the body.

Adults weigh up to 200 lb and stand 0.6-0.75 m tall, with a length of 1 to 1.5 meters. The thin tail is 30 to 45 centimetres long. The boar is somewhat larger than the sow. Males have recognisable humps or lumps on both sides of the snout and rather small, sharp tusks.

Behaviour

The Red River Hog is omnivorous. It eats mainly roots and turnips and supplements its diet with fruit, grasses, herbs, eggs, dead animal and plant remains, insects, and lizards. It uses its large muzzle to root about in the soil in search of food. In this way Red River Hogs can cause much damage to agricultural plantings.

The Red River Hog is mostly nocturnal. By day, they hide in dense brush. After sunset they roam in troops searching for food. The Red River Hog is a good swimmer but is unable to hold its breath for long.^{[citation needed]} They live in small troops of four up to twenty animals, comprising a male (boar), some adult sows and their piglets. The boar defends its harem aggressively against carnivores; the leopard is its most important enemy. Different troops merge occasionally to form groups of up to sixty animals.

Distribution and habitat

The Red River Hog lives in rainforests and wet dense savannas, in forested valleys, and near rivers, lakes and marshes. Species distribution ranges from the Congo area and Gambia to the Eastern Congo, southwards to the Congo River and to the Kasai. Exact delineation of range versus that of P. larvatus is unclear but in broad terms it can be said that the Red River Hog occupies West and Central Africa and the Bushpig occupies Eastern and Southern Africa. Where the two meet they are commonly held to interbreed although some authorities dispute this.

Until very recently a Red River Hog from West Africa was often considered an orange colored Bushpig. The pigs found in Madagascar are thought to be Bushpigs although some authorities assign the pigs on this island to two subspecies (larvatus and hova). Much confusion remains over the coloration of the Bushpig and Red River Hog; in broad terms it is safe to say that the most southern specimens are drab colored and as one moves north and west pig populations become more orange and mature males get blacker foreheads.

Gallery

At the Henry Doorly Zoo	Red River Hog and piglets, Toronto Zoo	Red River Hog at the Knowsley Safari Park
Red River Hogs at Chester Zoo, England	Red River Hog at Tierpark Hagenbeck	Red River Hog at Knowsley Safari Park, 31 July 2008

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Potamochoerus porcus

• World Association of Zoos and Aquariums