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Classification
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Hylochoerus
meinertzhageni
Giant forest hog
Taxonomy
General Characteristics
Body Length: 130-210 cm / 4.3-7 ft.
Shoulder Height: 75-110 cm / 2.5-3.6 ft.
Tail Length: 25-45 cm / 10-18 in.
Weight: 100-275 kg / 220-605 lb.The slate-grey skin is densely covered with extremely coarse dark brown or black hair, although this becomes sparser with age. Forming a slight mane on the neck which is erected when excited, these hairs may grow to be 17 cm / 6.4 inches long. Males are significantly larger than females in both weight and dimensions. The leaf-shaped ears are small and pointed, and are separated by a large depression in the skull (about the size of a man's fist!). Under the eyes of mature males are two large, naked 'warts', composed of dermal tissue, cartilage, and bone. The snout disc may be up to 17 cm / 6.4 inches in diameter, and is covered with short black hairs. The showy upper canines can grow to a length of 35 cm / 14 inches, and flare outwards and upwards over the snout. These teeth are constantly rubbing against the shorter lower canines, filing then to razor sharpness.
Ontogeny and Reproduction
Gestation Period: 149-154 days.
Young per Birth: 2-6, rarely up to 11.
Weaning: At 8-10 weeks.
Sexual Maturity: Females at 1 year, males at 3-4 years.
Life span: 12 years.Births are concentrated from January-February and July-August, just before the rainy seasons. Before giving birth, the expectant sow leaves her group and builds a nest in which to have her young. Measuring 4 meters / 13 feet in diameter and up to 1.5 meters / 5 feet tall and built primarily from bamboo stalks, this nest provides a safe haven for the newborns. Only one week after parturition, the mother rejoins her group accompanied by her offspring. Piglets may nurse from any female in the group, and are protected by all. In the case of danger, females make a warning grunt, to which the piglets respond by lying flat on the ground.
Ecology and Behavior
Activity is highest in the early morning and again in the late afternoon, with some uncertainty as to whether nocturnal activity is present. Groups generally set out from their night resting spot at sunrise, travelling to the open savanna using well worn trails. As the noon hour approaches, the giant forest hog again retreats to the forest, where they remain for about 2 hours before repeating the cycle again. Wallowing is a favourite activity, taking up about 1 hour each day in certain areas. Around 5:00 in the evening, groups retire to their elaborate sleeping nests. Reached through passageways through the vegetation, these nests are 2-60 square meters / 18-540 square feet in area and may be used for a long period of time. Surrounding this nest are well-used dung heaps, which may be 1.1 meters / 3.5 feet high. Daily movements average 8-12 kilometers / 5-7 miles, most of which takes place on well-defined trails. Each group, or "sounder", occupies a home range of about 10 square kilometers, which may overlap extensively with the ranges of other groups.. Males are responsible for the defense of the group, and will attack objects which threaten the safety. Extremely fierce when excited, giant forest hogs have been seen driving solitary spotted hyenas off of buffalo kills, and will attack humans if they are shot at. Competitions among males are violent and may extend for half and hour. During these contests, males rush directly at each other from 20-30 meters / 64-96 feet apart, crashing their foreheads together with a loud smack in a manner reminiscent of wild sheep. The victor urinates, grinds his teeth, and bites at the looser, who in turn flees the area with his tail raised. Despite their reinforced skulls, deaths among males due to fractures and breaks are not uncommon. The forest hog is quite vocal, producing grunts and barks to communicate over both short and long distances. In good habitat, population densities may exceed 7-30 animals per square kilometer.Family group: Small groups of 4-20 animals consisting of 1-4 males, 1-9 females, and their young.
Diet:Grasses, roots, fruit, leaves, carrion.
Main Predators: Leopard, spotted hyena.
Distribution
Montane forests and adjacent grasslands below 3750 meters / 12,000 feet above sea level across central Africa.
Range Map (Redrawn from d'Huart, 1993)
Conservation Status
Generally common, although H. m. ivoriensis is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN (1996).
Remarks
Hule (Greek) a mole or wart on the body khoiros (Greek) a pig or hog. Colonel R. Meinertzhagen (1878-1967), the naturalist who discovered this pig, was in East Africa from 1902-1905.
Literature Cited
d'Huart, J.-P. 1993. The Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni). In Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos: Status Survey and Action Plan. Edited by W. L. R. Oliver. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. pp. 84-93. Available online at http://iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/pphsg/Contents.htmKingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Academic Press, London and New York: NaturalWorld.
Nowak, R. M. [editor]. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World (Fifth Edition). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Schmidt, C. R. 1990. Pigs. In Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals. Edited by S. P. Parker. New York: McGraw-Hill. Volume 5, pp. 20-47.
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder [editors]. 1993. Mammal Species of the World (Second Edition). Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. Available online at http://nmnhwww.si.edu/msw/
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