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Classification
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Sus
verrucosus
Javan warty pig
Taxonomy
General Characteristics
Body Length: 90-190 cm / 3-6.3 ft.
Shoulder Height: 70-90 cm / 2.3-3 ft.
Weight: 35-150 kg / 77-330 lb.The colouration varies from reddish-yellow to black, with the yellowish underparts being sharply demarcated. Piglets are born with very faint stripes, which they lose very quickly. A long-haired mane covers the nape of the neck, extending as a thinner trail along the spine to the rump. There is marked sexual dimorphism in terms of body size in adults, with males being more than twice the weight of females. The slender legs are elongated, as is the flat-backed body, while the tail is long and simply tufted. The head, slightly convex in profile, is large and elongated, with large ears. There are three pairs of warts on the face, of which the preorbital ones remain small in adults. These warts have a large variation in size between individuals, though they are not as pronounced in females.
Ontogeny and Reproduction
Gestation Period: About 4 months
Young per Birth: 3-9
Life span: 14 yearsMost births occur in the rainy season from January to March, in a large nest made by the female out of leaf litter.
Ecology and Behavior
When threatened, the Javan warty pig raises the long hairs which form the mane on its back, increasing its apparent size. The tail is carried in an erect curve while fleeing. The alarm call is a shrill whistle. Due to the fragmented nature of its habitat (due to human civilizations and agricultural areas), it is feared that wild populations of the Javan warty pig may suffer from inbreeding or crossbreeding with the sympatric wild boar. Only a few captive breeding colonies are known, all in zoos on Eastern Java.Family group: Small groups made of a sow and her current young, adult males usually solitary.
Diet: Vegetation, including human crops.
Main Predators: Tiger (now extinct), dhole, leopard, humans.
Distribution
Secondary forests (predominantly teak) below 800 m / 2640 ft. on the Indonesian islands of Java, Bawean, and Madura (although possibly extinct on the latter).
Range Map (Redrawn from Blough, 1993)
Conservation Status
The Javan warty pig is classified as endangered by the IUCN (1996), threatened primarily by hunting, both for the perception of it as a pest and its meat.
Remarks
Sus (Latin) a pig. Verruca (Latin) a wart; -osus (Latin) suffix meaning 'full of': there are three pairs of bony 'warts' on the face of this species.
Literature Cited
Blouch, R. A. 1993. The Javan Warty Pig (Sus verrucosus). In Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos: Status Survey and Action Plan. Edited by W. L. R. Oliver. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. pp. 129-136. Available online at http://iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/pphsg/Contents.htmSchmidt, 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/
Additional Resources
Blouch, R. A. and Sumaryoto, A. 1979. Proposed Bawean Island Wildlife Reserve Management Plan. (Unpubl.) rep. to WWF-Indonesia Programme and Directorate of Nature Conservation, Rep. Indonesia: 82 pp.Blouch, R. A. 1988. Ecology and conservation of the Javan warty pig Sus verrucosus Muller, 1884. Biol. Conserv. 43: 295-307.
Blouch, R. A., Banjar Y. L., Heri D. S., and Sumaryoto A. 1983. The Javan Warty Pig: Distribution, Status and Prospects for the Future. (Unpubl.) rep. to World Wildlife Fund, Bogor: 32pp.
Blouch, R. A. and Groves, C. P. 1990. Naturally occurring suid hybrid in Java. Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde, 55: 270-275.
FAO 1982. National Conservation Plan for Indonesia, 3: Java and Bali. (Unpubl.) Field Report 36, UNDP/FAO (FO/INS/78/061) Nature Conservation and Wildlife Management Project, Indonesia.
Groves, C. 1981. Ancestors for the Pigs: Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Genus Sus. Tech. Bull. 3. Dept. Prehist., Australian National University Press, Canberra: 96pp.
Hoogerwerf, A. 1970. Udjung Kulon, the Land of the Last Javan Rhinoceros. E. J. Brill, Leiden: pp 331-349.
IUCN 1986. IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland and Cambridge.
MacKinnon, J. 1981. Distribution and status of wild pigs in Indonesia. (Unpubl.) rep. to IUCN/SSC Pigs and Peccaries Specialist Group: 9pp.
National Research Council 1983. Little-known Asian Animals with a Promising Economic Future. National Academy Press, Washington D. C.: pp 80-84 & 122-123.
Sody, H. J. V. 1941. Tweede bijdrage ouer de voort-platinestijden del Indische zooedieren. Der Nederlansch-Indische Jager, II: 198-201.
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