Part II: Species Accounts120
hogs visiting Dzanga bai in Central African Republic average 6.3
ranging from one to 16 individuals (Turkalo in preparation).
However, group size may be unstable with only a core group
of up to four females remaining together for longer periods and
other members split into subgroups leaving the main family
group for short periods of time. Numerous observations have
found that gravid females left the group to give birth and stayed
isolated with their sucklings some time after. Sometimes differ-
ent family groups stay together for several hours at wallowing
points or salt-licks, forming aggregations of up to 40–50 indi-
viduals at a single site (d’Huart 1978; Kingdon 1979).
Solitary individuals are common and have been observed in
a range of 15–48 per cent at Yathabara glade in Aberdare NP,
Kenya, 17 per cent at Virunga NP and 19 per cent at Dzanga bai,
Central African Republic (Turkalo in preparation).
Forest hog have a wide range of vocalizations, including
snorts, grunts, and squeals. Fimpel (2002) and Klingel and
Klingel (2004) have recorded up to 18 different types of vocali-
zations. Reyna-Hurtado (personal observation) has observed
low-tone grunting of dominant males similar to hippopotamus
(Hippopotamus amphibius) when threatened.Parasites and Diseases
Forest hogs are known to be reservoirs for African swine fever
and trypanosomiasis, and populations have been locally depleted
by rinderpest epidemics (d’Huart & Kingdon 2013), but other
diseases may play a role in population fluctuations and more
information is needed on this topic. Forest hogs are host to a
large number of ectoparasites including 11 species of ixodid ticks
(d’Huart 1993). Endoparasites found in the forest hog population
of Kibale NP, Uganda, include 14 species with Ascaris suum being
present in 73 per cent of 166 faecal samples collected and Eimeria
scabra and Hyostrongylus sp. in 30 and 35 per cent of the samples,
respectively (Tumukunde et al. submitted). Forest hogs living in
sympatry with bushpigs (Potamochoerus larvatus) and domes-
tic pigs in the periphery of the park shared 12 species, a fact that
highlights the potential for parasite transmission among wild and
domestic suid populations (Tumukunde et al. submitted).
Parasite transmission in wild pigs is another topic that lacks
scientific attention. This topic deserves some concern as forest
hogs and other African wild suids are increasingly exposed as
the border between the forest and perturbed areas increases
with forest fragmentation.Status in the Wild
Hylochoerus is currently classified as Least Concern in the IUCN
Red List (http://www.iucnredlist.org, accessed November 2015),
but it is acknowledged that there is a decreasing trend in general
for the species across its range (d’Huart & Klingel 2008; d’Huart &
Reyna 2016). Forest hogs are not listed in the CITES appendices
and no restriction exists for the international trade of meat or hides
of this species. If national hunting regulations are not adequately
adapted to the local populations status, this might eventually rep-
resent a threat in some countries where the species is targeted as
trophy (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia).
Today, the status of the species may be more alarming than
is actually classified because two of the subspecies present veryfragmented populations. H. m. ivoriensis is a cause of concern
given the high rates of forest loss and fragmentation in the west
African countries and live in isolated populations from Guinea
to Southern Ghana (d’Huart & Kingdon 2013). H. m. mein-
ertzhageni has been eliminated from Rwanda and Burundi, and
in Uganda it may be confined to some protected areas in the
western part of the country, and it has not been seen in Bwindi
Impenetrable Forest NP in the last 10 years (A. Tumukunde, per-
sonal communication). In Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan,
forest hogs also live in very fragmented populations.
Hunting forest hog with snares is common in several parts
of its distribution range. In Kibale NP, Uganda, Reyna-Hurtado
et al. (2014) observed a specific set of snares set up in forest clear-
ings aimed at capturing forest hog and in only a four-day patrol
park rangers destroyed 64 snares in the same area. H. m. rimator
is widespread and locally abundant in some sites of Northern
DR Congo and in the Sangha Tri-National complex of protected
areas (CAR, Republic of Congo, and Cameroon) but absent
from large areas south of the Congo river in DRC (T. Hart, per-
sonal communication). Wherever local people have access to its
forest habitat, the species is vulnerable to illegal bushmeat trade,
hunting, and deforestation. Diseases and parasite transmission
may also represent significant threats whose effects on popula-
tions remain largely unknown.
The forest hog should become a species of concern for con-
servation purposes; its dependence on forest ecosystems and
vulnerability to hunting and diseases may pose threats that
have been underestimated until now by the conservation world.
Protecting this species also ensures that the largest of the world’s
wild pigs is roaming secretively in African forest, playing an impor-
tant ecological role as herbivore and large prey of large carnivores.Status in Captivity
Information concerning the captive forest hog population
is scarce. Due to veterinary regulations aimed at protecting
domestic pigs from any source of swine fever, there are restric-
tions to keep captive animals only within the distribution range
of the species. To the extent of our knowledge, the only known
captive population in the world (K. Leus, personal communi-
cation) is a few individuals in the Uganda Wildlife Education
Centre in Entebbe, Uganda.Acknowledgements
R.R.-H. appreciates the help and information provided by C.A.
Chapman, A. Tumukunde, E. Rojas-Flores, M. Sanvicente,
S. Calme, and four skilled field assistants from Kibale National
Park, especially Martin Mukasa. Financial help to R.R.-H. to
gather information and to write this chapter was provided by
National Geographic Research and Exploration Committee
(Grant No. 9189-12), by El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Campeche,
México), and McGill University (Montreal, Canada). J.P.d’H.
wishes to thank a number of people who, over the past years,
generously provided significant contributions to the knowledge
of forest hogs: David Brugière, Sandra Fimpel, Peter Grubb (†),
John Hart, Fanuel Kebede, Jonathan Kingdon, Hans Klingel,
Christophe Morio, William Oliver (†), Antoine Souron, Katja
Viehl, and Elizabeth Yohannes..01312:33:38