Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wild Pigs and Peccaries

Part II: Species Accounts

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a very broad nasal disc (up to 17 cm). In adult boars the zygoma

are thickened and pneumatized, supporting inflated and naked

infraorbital swellings that become stained with exudates from the

preorbital gland (Figure 11.3). The legs and body are massive and

covered with sparse, dark-grey hairs with white or yellowish whisk-

ers on the lower jaw. Males have large tusks flaring outwards, with

the largest tusk recorded as 394 mm. The subspecies H. m. mein-

ertzhageni reach the largest size and weight of the three subspecies.

The dental formula is I 1/3, C 1/1, P 2/1, M 3/3 (× 2) = 30. The facial

structures of forest hog are more developed for a folivorous rather

than omnivorous diet (Ewer 1970; d’Huart & Kingdon 2013).

Habitat

Forest hog is a species that is similar to the red river hog

(Potamochoerus porcus) and depends on forested areas for its

survival. It inhabits a diverse array of forest ecosystems from

mountain bamboo forest and subalpine vegetation in the

Rwenzori Mountains to lowland forest in DRC and scattered

Figure 11.2 Close encounter with a

female forest hog (Hylochoerus mein-

ertzhageni) in Virunga National Park, DRC

in 1974. (Photo by Hubert Lehaen.) (A black

and white version of this figure will appear in

some formats. For the colour version, please

refer to the plate section.)

Figure 11.3 Male forest hog

(Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) wallowing

in a mud pond in Kibale National Park

showing the characteristic elongated

zygoma and the broad nasal disc (photo

by Rafael Reyna). (A 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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