Wild boar
Sus scrofa
Did you know ... that a wild boar named Luise became famous because she spent three years working for the Lower Saxony police like a police sniffer dog? She was able to detect cocaine and heroin as well as 15 different types of explosives.
Family
Suidae
Distribution
Wild pigs colonise a wide range of habitats: deciduous and mixed woodlands, open heathland and reed beds. In Switzerland, wild boars are mainly found in the Jura, the northern Swiss plateau, Ticino and Valais.
Lifestyle
Wild boars are very social animals. Related females and their young live in strictly hierarchical sounders led by the oldest and most experienced matriarch. Young boars are driven out of their sounders at two to three years of age, with older boars living a solitary existence. Wild boars are philopatric and defend their territory.
Reproduction
The mating season extends from November to January. Some 16 weeks later, between six and eight piglets are born which have a striped coat that they retain for around six months. Wild boars frequently give birth a second time in the autumn if there is an adequate food supply (maize and wheat fields).
Diet
Wild boars are omnivores: they eat a variety of plants, forest fruits and crops from fields but also carrion, insect larvae and small vertebrates.
Senses
Wild boars have an even keener sense of smell than dogs. In addition, they have very sensitive hearing and a good sense of touch and taste. They are quick to acquire skills.
The wild boar in Langenberg
Since 1921. The breeding sounder has access to two alternating forested areas and a hard court. Since 2003, a 1.6-hectare, walk-through wild boar enclosure has brought a new perspective to encounters between humans and animals.
