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Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) have become an invasive species in Canada, particularly in western and central regions, following their introduction as livestock in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These animals are hybrid descendants of European wild boars and domestic pigs, and have developed unique adaptations to survive in Canada's cold climate. [36]
The wild boar (Sus scrofa), also known as the wild swine, [4] common wild pig, [5] Eurasian wild pig, [6] or simply wild pig, [7] is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widespread suiform. [5]
Pigs are omnivores, which means that they consume both plants and animals. In the wild, they are foragers, searching through their habitat for food (which, for pigs, often includes digging with their snouts). Wild pigs eat roots, tubers, leaves, fruits, mushrooms, and flowers, in addition to some insects (especially insect grubs) and fish.
The initial emergence of wild pigs, followed by the genetic divergence between boars and pigs and the domestication of pigs [20] Archaeological evidence shows that pigs were domesticated from wild boar in the Near East in or around the Tigris Basin, [21] being managed in a semi-wild state much as they are managed by some modern New Guineans. [22]
Suidae is a family of artiodactyl mammals which are commonly called pigs, hogs, or swine. In addition to numerous fossil species, 18 extant species are currently recognized (or 19 counting domestic pigs and wild boars separately), classified into between four and eight genera .
The boars were more likely to survive in the wild compared to the domestic pigs due to hybrid vigor. [6] [failed verification] Over time, genes inherited from the domestic pigs will gradually disappear as hybrid pigs breed with the more numerous purebred wild boar. [6]
In early medieval Europe, when most pigs foraged in the woods, pork was the preferred meat of the nobility. By 1300 most forests had been felled, and pigs became scavengers.
Eight suine species (counter-clockwise from top left): red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu), feral pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus), north Sulawesi babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis), wild boar (Sus scrofa), pygmy hog (Porcula salvanius), common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), and Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus)