Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan Pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos Edited by William L. R. Oliver IUCN/SSC Pigs and Peccaries Specialist Group IUCNESC Hippo Specialist Group SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos was made possible through the generous support of: Chicago Zoological Society DEJA, Inc. Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust National Wildlife Federation NYZS The WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY People’s Trust for Endangered Species Peter Scott IUCN/SSC Action Plan Fund (Sultanate of Oman) World Wide Fund for Nature 0 1993 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational and other non-commercial purposes is authorized without permission from the copyright holder, provided the source is cited and the copyright holder receives a copy of the reproduced material. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. ISBN 2-8317-0141-4 Published by IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Camera-ready copy by the Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, Illinois 60513, U.S.A. Printed by Kelvyn Press, U.S.A. Cover photo: An adult male Bornean bearded pig, Sus b. barbatus (photo by Roland Seitre). Contents Page Page Preface . ...*..............................*.................................. V 4.3 The Forest Hog G. M. Durrell (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) . .. .. .. .. .. 84 J.-P. d’Huart Foreword . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .vi 4.4 The Bush Pigs (Potamochoerus larvatus Earl of Cranbrook and P. porcus) . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 93 Acknowledgements . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .ix P. Vercammen, A. H. W. Seydack, and W. L. R. Oliver Introduction . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .X 4.5 Review of Priorities for ConservationActio n and W. L. R. Oliver Future Researcho n the Afrotropical Suids . .. 101 1. The Suborder Suiformes . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 J.-P. d’Hua.rt and W. L. R. Oliver C. P. Groves and P. Grubb 5. The Eurasian Suids (Sus and Babyrousa) . .. .. 107 2. The Neotropical Tayassuids 5.1 Taxonomy andDescriptio n. .. .. .. .. .. .. 107 (Tayassuand Catagonus). .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .5 C. P. Groves and P. Grubb 2.1 Taxonomy and Description. .. .. .. .. .. .. .5 5.2 The EurasianWil d Pig (Susscrofa ) . .. .. .. .112 P. Grubb and C. P. Groves W. L. R. Oliver, I. L. Brisbin, and S. Takahashi 2.2 The Collared Peccary (Tayassu tajacu) .. .. .. ..7 5.3 The Pygmy Hog (Sus salvanius) . .. .. .. .. 121 R. E. Bodmer and L. K. Sowls W. L. R. Oliver and S. Deb Roy 2.3 The White-lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari) . .. 13 5.4 The Javan Warty Pig (Sus verrucosus) . .. .. .129 I. March R. A. Blouch 2.4 The ChacoanPeccary (Catagonus wagneri) . ....22 5.5 The Bearded Pig (Sus barbatus) . .. .. .. .. .136 A. B. Taber J. 0. Caldecott, R. A. Blouch, and 2.5 Economic Importance and Human A. A. Macdonald Utilization of Peccaries. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .29 5.6 The Philippine Warty Pigs(Su s philippensis R. E. Bodmer, L. K. Sowls, and A. B. Taber and S. cebifrons) . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .145 2.6 Review of Priorities for Conservation Action and W. L. R. Oliver, C. R. Cox, and C. P. Groves Future Researcho n Neotropical Peccaries. ....37 5.7 The SulawesiWart y Pig (Sus celebensis) . ....155 A. B. Taber and W. L. R. Oliver A. A. Macdonald 5.8 The Babirusa(Babyrous a babyrussa) . .. .. .16 1 3. The Afrotropical Hippopotamuses A. A. Macdonald (Hippopotamus and Hexaprotodon). .. .. .. .4 1 5.9 Origins of Domestication& the Pig Culture . .17 1 3.1 Taxonomy and Description. .. .. .. .. .. .. .41 W. L. R. Oliver, C. P. Groves, C. R. Cox, P. Grubb and R.A. Blouch 3.2 The Common Hippopotamus 5.10 Introduced and Feral Pigs, Problems,Policy, . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 (Hippopotamus amphibius) and Priorities . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 179 S. K. Eltringham W. L. R. Oliver and I. L. Brisbin 3.3 The Pygmy Hippopotamus 5.11 Review of Priorities for Conservation Action and . .. .. .. .. .. .. 55 (Hexaprotodon liberiensis) Future Researchin South and SoutheastAsia. 191 S. K. Eltringham R. A. Blouch and W. L. R. Oliver 3.4 Review of Priorities for ConservationAction and Future Researcho n Hippopotamuses. .. ... 6 1 Appendices . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 196 S. K. Eltringham 1. Status CategoriesAdopte d by IUCN/SSC Pigs and PeccariesSpecialis tGroup and 4. The Afrotropical Suids (Phacochoerus, Hippo Specialist Group . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 196 and Potamochoerus). .. .. .. .. .66 Hylochoerus, 2. Summary of Current Taxonomic and . .. .. .. .. .. .. .66 4.1 Taxonomy and Description Conservation Statuso f Suiformes. .. .. .. .. .197 P. Grubb 3. List of Contributors. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 199 4.2 The Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus 4. List of Pigs and PeccariesSpecialis tGroup and P. aethiopicus) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .75 and Hippo SpecialistGrou p Members. .. .. .. ,200 P. Vercammen and D. R. Mason . III Preface There is a story- alas, I fear, apocryphal-of the time moved. its activities disturbed a host of tiny insects, spi- when Vesuvius erupted, covering the town of Pompeii ders, baby lizards and the like, which, if the pigs did not eat with lava and ash. A man-who was, luckily, away at the themselves, were a treasure trove for the accompanying time-returned and was poking around the ruins of his birds. For half an hour I was privileged to watch the inner house in which he hoped the remains of his shrewish wife workings of the forest, the monkeys making fruit and seeds were entombed, when an ambrosial scent was wafted to his available for the pigs, the pigs in their turn providing a ban- nostrils. Pursuing it to its source, he found the roast car- quet for the birds. Insects, arachnids, birds and mammals cass of a pig, in those days kept as street cleaners or linked together in an extraordinary web of interactions. garbage disposal officers. So delicious did it smell that And this, I realized, was happening all over the forest he broke off a small piece of the skin and tried it. Thus was where nature has created a gigantic jigsaw puzzle of great roast pork and crackling ushered into the gourmet’s world. beauty and complexity. I have always been a champion of the Suidae, for not When the Pigs and Peccaries Group came into being, I only are they intelligent beasts (I have seen a troupe of was delighted, and so my Trust, together with other orga- domestic pigs in a circus perform tricks that would defeat nizations, did our best to support them. The results have a dog) but they exist in such a bizarre set of colors and been more than we could have hoped for and have given us shapes to enchant one, and they are also of great impor- what might be called a pig Guide Michelin. We know tance in the world. I am not speaking of them in a purely where pigs are and in what numbersand how best to pro- culinary sense now. The importance of a sounder of pigs tect them. In the course of this, many extraordinary facts in the ecosystem was brought home to me very forcibly have come to light and even new speciesdiscovered. Most when I was on an animal collecting expedition to importantly, we now have an action plan for different peo- Cameroon. ple in different partsof the world and with different species I was lying on top of a small cliff, watching a group of which can, we hope, be acted upon. If any documentcan, monkeys causing havoc in a fruiting tree. Wasteful feed- this one proves that all pigs are equal and none are more ers, they would take two bites at a fruit and drop the equal than others. Now we have a ground plan set out for remains to the forest floor, fifty feet below them. Suddenly us and it is the duty of all conservationiststo make sureit a sounder of red river hogs appeared, the babies yellow is put into action. I am proud to sharethe world with pigs striped, running to and fro excitedly like a swarm of wasps and I wish every specieswell, from the question mark on in among the handsome russet red and cream colored the end of a startled warthog to the exquisitely ugly crum- adults who moved slowly, nosing up the forest floor as pled face of a babirusa. I am delighted-as this tome shire horses will plough a meadow. Around them hov- shows-that people are concernedabout them. I think it ered a flock of excited, brightly colored birds. I could hear behooves us to remember that the greatest compliment the odd satisfied grunt as a giant snail was disintered and ever paid to Homo sapiens was when the cannibalsin the scrunched up like a nut, or a monkey-dropped fruit was Pacific Islands called the first pot roast missionary “Long mumbled and swallowed whole, seed and all. These pigs Pig”. were, I realized, gardening, ploughing up the leaf mould, carrying seeds in their bellies to be discarded in some other Gerald Durrell part of the forest, to create new orchards. As the sounder December 1992 V Foreword IUCN was formed in 1948, a Union of Nations, govern- Next follow the two living speciesof hippopotamus, ment departments, non-political organizations and sym- now confined to Africa but the survivors of a group much pathetic international bodies, to promote scientifically more widespreadin the geologicalpast. Their statusin the based action for the conservation of nature and the natural late 1980sis presentedby Keith Eltringham in thesepages resources on which all living things depend. For many as the summary of replies to a questionnaire survey in years, its concern with rare and endangered plants and ani- 1989-1990. Although still widespreadand locally abun- mals has been expressed through the work of the Species dant, the large Hippopotamus amphibius is threatenedby Survival Commission (SSC). lossof grazing land and by the potential of its canineteeth I warmly welcome the appearance of this Action Plan, to substitute for elephant ivory. The pygmy hippopota- produced through the combined efforts of the Pigs and mus, here namedHexaprotodon Ziberiensis, is believed to Peccaries Specialist Group and the Hippo Specialist Group be reduced to a few thousand at most, its distribution in the IUCN/SSC.