Abstract
Wild pigs are the most prolific, very intelligent and secretive species that over the recent past has been in a lot of conflict terms with the humans. These animals are adaptive generalists and survive in wide range of habitats worldwide. The reproductive traits of wild pigs are extraordinary showing high prolificacy so it becomes impossible to control their population. These animals have adapted to become nocturnal proving it difficult to know about their behavior. However in order in spite of these challenges the main objectives of this study was to understand the behavior and ecology of this particular species to come up the control strategies. Thus basis for documenting and understanding the wild pig behavior has dramatically evolved, contributing significantly to our understanding of these animals. In general, however, the lack of intensive field studies was attributed to the fact that wild pigs were regarded everywhere as a pest. The wild pig groups usually known as sounder’s were tracked and all findings were documented. The study period was about a year and the wild pigs were tracked and observed at the adjoining regions of the Eastern Ghats (Sathyamangalam region) and the Western Ghats (Mudumalai tiger reserve, Anaimalai tiger reserve) and of Tamil Nadu state during November, 2012 to October, 2014. A variety of behaviors were documented such as social unit organization, Habitat utilization, Daily activity patterns, Movement patterns, Modes of mobility, Home range, Male-male competition, Maternal behavior, Resting/loafing beds, Mannerism and attitudes, Vigilance behavior, Vocalizations, Wallowing, Rubbing, Symbiotic grooming behavior, Scent marking, Senses. At the end of the study we were able to precisely outlay the above the entire behavior attributes of wild pigs. These findings are necessary to understand the wild pigs and their vermin nature to combat crop raiding, eventually cutting down Human-Wild pig conflict, that will a more scientific method of conservation to avoid conflicts ending in tragic outcomes.
Highlights
Wild pigs are very intelligent and secretive. These animals are adaptive ecological generalists, capable of exploiting a wide variety of geographic locations, habitats and forage resources further observed that wild pigs were more difficult to study than other ungulates because of their “intelligence, shyness and vigilance combined with an acute sense of smell and hearing” [1]
Social unit organization: not as gregarious as other ungulates like Bovids, Cervids, wild pigs are by nature very social animals and exist in groups known as sounders
The wild pigs in this study were categorized into eleven groupings as follows: Single adults, Adult groups, Single sub adults, Sub adult groups, Groups of both adults and sub adults, Basic family groups, “Sounders”, Extended family groups, Single piglets, Piglet groups, and Sub adult and piglets groups
Summary
Wild pigs are very intelligent and secretive These animals are adaptive ecological generalists, capable of exploiting a wide variety of geographic locations, habitats and forage resources further observed that wild pigs were more difficult to study than other ungulates because of their “intelligence, shyness and vigilance combined with an acute sense of smell and hearing” [1]. The lack of intensive field studies was attributed to the fact that wild pigs were regarded everywhere as a pest and were despised, ending in tragic outcomes like poisoning, hunting in way to end up the conflict This drove these animals to adopt a nocturnal activity pattern and frequently seek shelter in heavy, dense cover, making behavioral studies difficult if not impossible to conduct [3]. In spite of those challenges, a number of behavioral studies of freeranging wild pigs have been completed since that time [4]
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