Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wild Pigs and Peccaries

Part II: Species Accounts

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Adult males may be associated with groups of females, in par-

ticular during the breeding season.

Parasites and Diseases

Little is known about diseases that occur in Sus philippensis.

Several species of parasite have been described that are specific

to Philippine warty pigs from Luzon and Mindanao and other

large mammals including endemic deer species (Hoogstraal

et al. 1967, 1968; Hoogstraal & Wassef 1983).

Status in the Wild

The Philippine warty pig is presumably decreasing in most parts

of its range where formerly it was common. The decline of its

population has been estimated at 30 per cent or more. The causes

of this drastic decline are mainly due to poaching, over-hunting,

habitat loss, and hybridization with free-ranging domestic and

feral pigs (Oliver 1995; Griffin & Griffin 2000; Oliver & Heaney

2008; Meijaard et al. 2011; Scheffers et al. 2012). Forest cover

in the Philippines is among the lowest in South-East Asia, with

24 per cent of the land still covered in forest in 2004. With 2.8

per cent forest loss per year, the country has the highest annual

forest loss of all South-East Asian countries (Stibig et al. 2007).

Forest loss is highest on Luzon and Mindanao, where the biggest

remaining forest areas are and where forest conversion due to

small holder agriculture takes place in the higher mountain for-

ests. In fact, most of the forests in the Philippines are secondary

or more or less degraded; there is almost no primary forest left

(Stibig et al. 2007).

Hunting plays an important role in the lives of many cultures

and communities. In many less-developed regions, hunting for

bushmeat provides people with relatively inexpensive food and

some income (Brashares et al. 2004).

Both poaching and hunting are practised by farmers to

reduce crop raiding and by indigenous people. The surplus meat

is also sold in the villages and towns and the demand seems high.

Some indigenous peoples depended on wild pigs for their main

protein intake between the thirteenth and the seventeenth cen-

turies and this probably lasted until recent times (Mudar 1997),

with hunters priding themselves on focusing on Philippine

warty pigs rather than feral wild boar (Mudar 1985). It is unclear

how these relationships have changed in the past three decades

with decreasing pig populations and integration of indigenous

people into the broader society.

However, in a recent study on bushmeat in the Philippines,

Scheffers et al. (2012) found that hunting still plays an important

role for the local communities. In fact, the peak of this activity is

from August until early October and then again from February

to April. According to the hunters interviewed, during a three-

week period in February 2011, three hunters shot eight wild pigs

(range 15–80 kg). One large pig killed in July 2011 (weight 76 kg)

earned the hunters ~13,000 Pesos, compared with a typical daily

income of 250–350 Pesos.

In addition to hunting, hybridization poses a potential but

unquantifed threat to the remaining pure populations and has

been observed in Luzon, Mindanao, Basilan and other islands

(Heaney et al. 2005).

Conservation Measures

The Philippine warty pig is now fully protected by Philippine

law, although the enforcement of protection measures is gener-

ally scarce in most areas, owing to a lack of resources and other

factors. Despite this protective legislation, research studies and

education/awareness campaigns, a lot more needs to be done to

ensure the survival in the wild of S. philippensis and its phylo-

genetically distinct subspecies philippensis and mindanensis. In

particular there is a need to:

•    determine the genetic status and relationships of many

(as yet unstudied and described) insular populations,

especially with regard to the animals presently ascribed to

the philippensis and mindanensis subspecies as these are

likely to be distinct species and, once confirmed through

a peer-reviewed publication, should be kept separate in

breeding programmes;

•    carry out surveys on population distribution, abundance

and genetic purity of the most threatened and distinct

populations within the current S. philippensis species;

•    better understand existing or likely future threats, and

develop strategies to most effectively reduce them. This

would also require an understanding of why people poach

pigs and what benefits pigs have to people; and

•    enforce the existing protective legislation, establish more

protected areas, and mitigate negative attitudes through

improving education/awareness initiatives.

Status in Captivity

There is no information about individuals of this species in any

international institutions, but the species is kept in Avilon Zoo

in Manila (de Chabanes 2015). Considering the significant dif-

ferences between the current two subspecies, which will likely

be raised to species level, and the ongoing declines in the wild,

there is a likely need to develop new breeding programmes for

both of the current (sub)species.

References

Brashares, J. S., Arcese, P., Sam, M. K., et

al. (2004). Bushmeat hunting, wildlife

declines, and fish supply in west Africa.

Science 306: 1180–1183.

Cruzana, B. C., De Ocampo, G. D., Sasaki, M.,

Kitamura, N. & Yamada J. (2005).

Cytochrome P450 aromatase and estrogen

receptors (ER). Philippine Journal of

Veterinary Medicine 42: 102–104.

de Chabannes, P. (2015). Zoos around

Manila. International Zoo News

62:164–177.

Duya, M. R. M., Alviola, P. A., Duya, M. V.,

Balete, D. S. & Heaney, L. R. (2007).

Report on a survey of mammals of the

Sierra Madre Range, Luzon

Island, Philippines. Banwa 4:

41–68.

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