Sulawesi warty pig, Sulawesi pig
The Celebes warty pig (Sus celebensis) is a species of wild pig that lives on Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is the only pig species that has been domesticated apart from the Wild boar.
The Celebes warty pig is a medium-sized pig, and quite variable in size and appearance. It has a head-and-body length of between 80 and 130 cm (30 and 50 in) and a long tail, with males generally being larger than females. The back is rounded and the legs are short. The color is greyish-black, sometimes tinged with red or yellow on the flanks. There are three pairs of facial warts and a fringe of pale bristles on the snout and more bristles on the cheeks. The crown and nape are topped by a short crest of dark bristles, while a dark mid-dorsal stripe extends from the crest towards the tufted tail. Young pigs have longitudinal stripes, but these fade as the piglets grow.
Celebes warty pigs occur in Sulawesi and the nearby smaller islands of Buton, Muna, Kabeana, Peleng, Lembeh, and the Togian Islands. They inhabit various rainforests, swamps, cultivated land, and grasslands in mountainous areas.
Celebes warty pigs are social and spend time in small groups of up to 9 individuals. Each group is led by a dominant male and includes several females and their offspring. Celebes warty pigs are crepuscular and usually forage in the early morning and the evening.
Celebes warty pigs are omnivores. They mainly eat roots, shoots, leaves, and fallen fruit, as well as carrion, invertebrates, and small vertebrates.
Celebes warty pigs breed throughout the year. The gestation period is thought to last between 4 and 5 months, and litter size can be up to 8 young.
The main threats to Celebes warty pigs include the expanding human population, deforestation, conversion of the land to agricultural use, and hunting for human consumption. Even in areas such as national parks, where the species is protected, hunting still occurs and the meat is traded in local markets.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Celebes warty pig total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are decreasing.
