Wild pig species

Greener Jim

Well-Known Member
I was thinking about the many hunting 'challenges' around the world such as the Big 5 and the UK 6 and I got thinking about wild pigs worldwide.
The ones I can think of are:
Wild Boar (many countries in Europe)
Warthog (many countries in Africa)
Red River Hog (Central to Western Africa)
Bushpig (Eastern to Southern Africa)
Peccary (Southwest North America, Central and South America)
Giant Forest Hog (mainly Guinean and Congolian forests)


Not counting wild boar from every European country as they are all the 'same' just differing in size and colour. Nor am I including feral pigs in America or Australia.

Any which could be added to the list?
 
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I've shot Mauritian wild pig. In Mauritius funnily enough. I believe they have their own sci classification so perhaps slightly different to a bog standard feral.Either that or the mauritian authorities saw a marketing opportunity

Novice
 
Had a go at peccaries once in New Mexico down near the Mexican border with some ami friends, we slept tooled up in case of illegals hitting the camp, never had such a black night absolutely no light pollution at all it was wonderful.
Martin
 
Had a go at peccaries once in New Mexico down near the Mexican border with some ami friends, we slept tooled up in case of illegals hitting the camp, never had such a black night absolutely no light pollution at all it was wonderful.
Martin

Sounds like a great night mate. I reckon I could probably get that past the missus as well :)
 
I was thinking about the many hunting 'challenges' around the world such as the Big 5 and the UK 6 and I got thinking about wild pigs worldwide.
Nor am I including feral pigs in America or Australia.
Any which could be added to the list?

Some of the wild boar in the America and Canada, though not native, are not feral. And some are from feral stocks so long ago ( Hernando de Soto ), as to be totally reverted to the wild now.

Several examples:
1890s - wild boar from Bavaria and Russia were stocked into a 19,000 acre fenced hunting preserve near Asheville, North Carolina. They eventually escaped, and populated the mountains of western NC, SC, and eastern Tennessee. There were lots of small farms and apple orchards, lots of oaks and acorns. They pretty much stayed there, and were kept under control by local hunters, until rivers were dammed up in the 1970s, forcing them out of dense wooded river bottoms. They moved out into northeast Georgia, and down the Saluda and Savannah River basins to the National Forests and Parks along the Congaree River, and into the 500 square mile area around the Savannah River Nuclear Research facility, where there is some hunting along the periphery to control them.

Polish wild boar, imported into a high fence preserve in the 1970s, escaped during the flooding and fences downed by huge trees felled by Hurricane Hugo, and spread through this same swamp. Domestic swine also escaped and some have crossed with these big pigs.

Eastern European wild boar, stocked in fenced preserves in Michigan and Ontario. Some will surely escape before long.

Distinguishing Feral Hogs from Introduced Wild Boar Texas Natural Wildlife

Feral sow and feral-Euro-cross from Savannah River basin. And a 707-lb boar killed near the original stocking of Bavarian and Russian boar in Hooper's Bald, North Carolina, January 2015. Charged the hunter, then turned. He shot it at 30 yards with a Ruger 1-B .25-06.
feral-sow-srns.jpgferal-euro-X-srns.jpgnc-boar-707lb-sm.jpg
 
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I read on an American Forum a while ago that Peccaries are not pigs? Interesting reading, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peccary
 
Here you go the full list including the wild boar deriv's
Suidae
 
From the look of some of the 'wild boar' trophy pictures that people post on here and on Facebook, the wild strains also include Tamworths, Gloucester Old Spots, Saddlebacks and the odd Iron-Age cross too :stir:
 
I posted a pic of a spotted boar a while ago. Reading Micheal Tams book, Wild Boar behavour and hunting it says the spotted boar are genetically pure wid boar
 
The article I posted above is by a biologist who is not from Texas. He works with a biological testing laboratory ( I once consulted there ) which does DNA testing ( among other things), and his specific interest is in wild boar, so he has traced DNA from California pigs, all the way back to the original European swine stocked in the hunting reserve at Hoopers Bald, North Carolina, and back to Germany and the Urals. He has collected samples from all over the America ( where there were no native swine), and in Europe, Turkey, Asia, etc. If you want to delve into this, he has written a lot of articles, some on the Internet, and several books.

I know that personally, some of the wild pigs I hunt near my house have interbred with Yorkshires and others which escaped pens during Hurricane Hugo. These domestic pigs have been bred for growth and for the table, so the crossbreeds, if they have access to lots of food, can grow quite large, and the smaller ones are pretty good on the grill, especially the ones feeding in grain fields and orchards.
 
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I have neglected this thread a little. Thanks for all the responses lads. I shall pop bullet points down to make it a little easier for me to reply:
• Regards the feral/wild populations. I'm happy with that and will change the OP accordingly. I think they will still just come under 'wild boar' so will be nice to diversify the list but I think one trophy boar would be enough as an example of the species. Similar to deer, a red deer here is a red deer in New Zealand.
• Shame about the Peccary. I should have researched that more. Looks like an interesting animal none the less.
• I have access to Wikipedia. I appreciate the links and lists but many on Wikipedia are either variants of wild boar or pigs which cannot be hunted in their home country. The input on the wild pigs in Mauritius is more what I'm after, wrong kind of pig but didn't even know you could hunt there.
 
Can't comment on the number of species, but can confirm that warthog, bushpig and giant forest hog are all superb to eat!

Giant forest hog are also spectacularly clumsy and really not very bright. Cartoon animals.
 
You lucky bugger!!!

I definitely want a Giant Forest Hog but the main areas where they reside are in areas of Africa which are, well, 'dicey'

Quite common in Western Uganda, and I believe there are still a couple hunting concessions there (though that may have changed). Uganda is perfectly safe if you stay out of the far North. I'm also fairly sure that there are a hunting areas in Rwanda as well (possibly on the fringes of Akagera NP), and Rwanda is entirely safe.
 
Cheers for that mate. It's often hard deciphering where in Africa is safe aside from the usual hunting hot spots.
I often forget that you are from that neck of the woods (if I am remembering correctly)
 
Cheers for that mate. It's often hard deciphering where in Africa is safe aside from the usual hunting hot spots.
I often forget that you are from that neck of the woods (if I am remembering correctly)

Yup. Born in Malawi, lived there, Zambia and Botswana, got sent to school in Kenya and did PhD in Uganda. Have spent time in most of the others on that side. Have never been to West Africa, though.

Fogs and warthogs are always the first to go in areas where poaching picks up, which tells you something about how good they are to eat! The last men standing are always the waterbuck - I'd probably sooner eat a cat!
 
Yeah i do not hear good things about the culinary qualities of bushbuck!

The main aim of this thread was to see if I could get a definitive 'Big 5 (or 6)' of pigs and make that my aim. The Giant Forest Hog needs to be on that list as does Warthog, Bushpig and Red River Hog. So looks like I know what's on my my list for Africa.

Then a real big European Wild Boar. Hmmmm, possibly one more to add.....
 
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