Visayan warty pig

Summary

Warty pigs have only small facial warts, despite their common name. Warts are present only in males and may help protect their faces in fights. Their bodies are covered in sparse bristles, which are dark gray or black in females and young males, and silvery or light brown in adult males.

During the mating season, the male’s already spiky head tuft grows into a long mane, which makes them appear larger and more imposing when threatened. Hence our warty pig's name; Elvis.

Dietary

Visayan warty pigs are omnivorous in the wild, which means they eat a bit of everything. Their diet consists primarily of earthworms, roots, tubers and fruits, but they also exploit agricultural crops.

Here at the Zoo, we feed our warty pigs vegetables, mealworms, browse and pellets.

Habitat

As its name suggests, the Visayan warty pig exclusively occurs on the Visayan Islands in the Philippines. There, it is restricted to the islands of Panay and Negros, and possibly Masbate. The warty pigs at Bristol Zoo belong to the subspecies negrinus, which occurs on Negros.

Warty pigs live in densely forested areas. They used to occur from sea level up to high elevations, but have lost over 95% of their former habitats and today occur mostly above 800m.

Conservation

Visayan warty pigs are classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their population is highly fragmented and declining.

The species is threatened by habitat loss due to logging and agriculture. They are also persecuted by farmers as crop-raiders, and hunted for their meat, despite being protected by Philippine law. Visayan warty pigs occur in a few protected areas, but enforcement is often poor.

IUCN Red List species link

Did you know...

The piglets' stripes are a protection against predators, and the piglets will lose the stripes when they grow older. Our warty pigs love rooting around their enclosure for food - they are very destructive and intelligent!

Where to find us at Bristol Zoo

You can find our Visayan warty pigs next to the gorillas.