Pig

Sus scrofa

Identification:

Body length 120 cm; tail length 20 cm; weight up to 120 kg. Usually black, but any colour is possible. Old males have thickened shoulders and well-developed, coarse, erectile manes.

Habitat and Range:

Rainforest to mangroves, throughout most non-urban habitats covered by the limits of this book. Also watercourses and floodplains throughout mainland Australia. Practically worldwide.

Notes:

In hot weather usually found within 2 km of water. Eats almost anything from grass, roots, fruit and insects to eggs, reptiles, mammals and carrion. Environmentally destructive and a reservoir of Ross River fever.

Traces:

Mud wallows; freshly ‘ploughed’ ground; igloo-like farrowing nests made of grass and other vegetation.

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