Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wild Pigs and Peccaries

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Chapter 8: Togian babirusa Babyrousa togeanensis (Sody, 1949)

Taxonomy

The Togian babirusa is classified in the genus Babyrousa of
the family Suidae. Formerly, this species was recognised as a
subspecies, Babyrousa babyrussa togeanensis, of the nomi-
nal Babyrousa babyrussa (Groves 1980; Macdonald 1993).
In Groves (2001) and Meijaard and Groves (2002a), the four
subspecies of Babyrousa, including the extinct Bolabatu babi-
rusa, have been proposed to be upgraded to species level. Later,
based on a statistical analysis of skull and teeth measurements,
the three extant subspecies, including Togian babirusa, were
considered as full species (Meijaard & Groves 2002b) and
included in Appendix I of CITES. Their distribution is as fol-
lows: Togian babirusa Babyrousa togeanensis from Togian
Islands, Sulawesi babirusa Babyrousa celebensis from northern
Sulawesi, Moluccan babirusa Babyrousa babyrussa from Buru
and Sula Islands, and one extinct species Bolabatu babirusa
Babyrousa bolabatuensis from Holocene subfossils found on
the southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi. The recent interest in
Togian babirusa is about its origin and relationships with the
other populations in the neighbouring areas, in particular in
the eastern peninsula of Sulawesi. According to Froehlich and
Supriatna (1996), the Togian Islands were probably connected
to the eastern tip of central Sulawesi during Pleistocene oceanic

regression but they were not connected to the northern penin-

sula. This suggests the possibility that an ancestor of this spe-

cies arrived in the Togian islands from the eastern tip of central

Sulawesi through a strip of land, although it is still a possibil-

ity that they were introduced by humans (Meijaard & Groves

2002b; Akbar et al. 2007).

Subspecies and Distribution

Togian babirusa does not have a subspecies. As the name sug-

gests, this species is endemic to the Togian Islands that are

located in the Gulf of Tomini, off the coast of central Sulawesi,

Indonesia. Among seven main islands of the archipelago,

this species has a limited geographical distribution in four of

them (Malenge, Talatakoh, Togian, and Batudaka; Figures 8.1

and 8.2; Ito et al. 2005, 2008; Akbar et al. 2007; Ito 2008).

Occasionally, Togian babirusa can be seen on their satellite

islets like Pangempan (ca. 63 ha including adjacent swamp and

lagoon, at 400 m north of Togian; Selmier 1983) and Kadidiri

(ca. 83 ha, connected with mangrove fringe to Batongo Island, at

100 m northwest of Togian; Meijaard et al. 2011). On the other

three main islands of Waleakodi (ca. 6 km east of Malenge Is.),

Waleabahi (ca. 3 km east of Waleakodi Is.) and Una una (ca.

30 km northwest of Batudaka Is.), there are no sightings of this

Figure 8.1 Togian babirusa distribution (Source: IUCN 2016, Red List of Threatened Species). (A simplified black and white version of this figure will appear in some formats.
For the colour version, please refer to the plate section.)

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