Ecology, Conservation and Management of Wild Pigs and Peccaries

Chapter 18: Bearded pig Sus barbatus (Müller, 1838)

177

Linkie et al. 2013). One theory for this absence is that bearded

pigs’ specialized adaptation for tracking temporary resources

across large areas does not suit northern Sumatra’s more local-

ized masting asynchrony (Wich & Schaik 2000).

In southern Sumatra, bearded pigs were extirpated during

the first wave of deforestation of the twentieth century (Blouch

1984), and now their southern range limit appears to be Kerinci

Seblat National Park. While a bearded pig was observed in

Lampung province (southern tip of Sumatra) in the 1970s,

they have not been sighted in Lampung or the adjacent prov-

inces for 50 years (Groves 1981; Blouch 1984). It is unclear if

bearded pigs ever consistently inhabited the southern Barisan

mountains where modern-day Bukit Barisan Selatan National

Park (BBSNP) is located because they are not reported by locals,

including the oldest hunters. There have been no sightings in

BBSNP in the last 15 years despite intensive and widespread

camera trapping.

Within Peninsular Malaysia, S. barbatus populations have

been reduced dramatically and the bearded pig is seriously

threatened with extinction. Bearded pigs were widely reported

from Northern, Southern, and Central Peninsular Malaysia

prior to the 1950s (Kawanishi et al. 2013). Remaining popula-

tions have been described in the southern state of Johor and

eastern state of Pahang, including Endau-Rompin National

Park (Lohe 2015). The last confirmed report from other states

was in 1996, when a single group of 18 individuals was spot-

ted in the Pasoh Research Forest in the central state of Negiri

Sembilan, despite extensive camera trap surveys (Ickes et al.

2003; Kawanishi & Sunquist 2004).

S. barbatus is extant throughout most of Borneo’s large

remaining forested areas (> 50 km^2 ), where populations are rela-

tively healthy.

Descriptive Notes

The largest males can weigh over 200 kg (440 pounds) when

storing fat after a forest-wide mast fruiting (Figure 18.2A);

however, standard adult sizes are 50–120 kg, with females

slightly smaller than males (Figure 18.2B; Francis & Barrett

2008). Bearded pigs have an average shoulder height of

0.9 m, and a standard length of 1.2–1.5 m from anus to nose

(Francis & Barrett 2008). It is noteworthy that their size fluc-

tuates drastically with the abundance of and competition for

resources, such that in years without mast fruiting it is com-

mon to see starved bearded pigs with protruding ribcages (e.g.

Figure 18.2C), while in mast-fruiting years they are almost

Figure 18.2 Camera trap photos of Sumatran bearded pigs (Sus barbatus oi) in Kerinci Seblat National Park in 2014. (A) Adult male, (B) adult female, (C) muddy

young adult, (D) juveniles approximately 3–4 months old, part of a group of ~12 pigs. Photo by M. S. Luskin and W. R. Albert.

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