Palawan bearded pig

Wild boar of the day: Palawan bearded pig

Santa Pig is coming to town!  

'Tis the season to be jolly falalalalaaa lala lalaaa... And so the song goes. And since merry making this Christmas season isn't over yet, I thought it would be fun to feature 'Santa Pig.'

General characteristics 

Notice its beard. And imagine a red hat on it. Doesn't it look like Santa Claus' pig version in a tropical setting? 

Found on the archipelago of islands formed by Balabac, Palawan, and the Calamian Islands in the Philippines, the Palawan bearded pig with the scientific name Sus ahoenobarbus is a species of pig endemic to the Philippines. They are 1 to 1.6 metres (3.3 to 5.2 ft) in length, about 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall and weigh up to 150 kilograms (330 lb). 

Until recently, it was considered a subspecies of the Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus), but at least under the phylogenetic species concept, it must be classified as a separate species. For its treatment under other (and more widely used) species concepts, more study is required, but the presently available information seems to argue for full species status in any case.

Population and habitat

The species remains relatively widely, if patchily, distributed. Although still locally common in some areas, it is in decline due to habitat attrition and heavy hunting pressure in many areas 

Natural environments of this species ranges from forest habitats (including fragmented forest) to sea level to mountain forest at 1,500 m in a wide range of habitats: from primary and secondary forest to cultivated and managed areas, even neighboring human habitations.

If you want to see a moving picture of this wild animal, please click here.

Citations

Oliver, W. (2008). Sus ahoenobarbus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 4 November 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of vulnerable.

Lucchini, Meijaard, Diong, Groves and Randi (2005). New phylogenetic perspectives among species of South-east Asian wild pig (Sus sp.) based on mtDNA sequences and morphometric data. J. Zool., Lond. 266: 25–35