Animal of the year stories: Dangerous time for boar family
Text forester Vahur Sepp
Photo Kadi Kiima
Translation Liis
Boar nest, still a little warm …
Wild boar Metssiga Sus scrofa
A sow has 4-8 piglets in the litter. She has 10 teats but 2 of them do not produce milk. An interesting fact is that in favourable conditions the piglets in a herd also can conceive (boars are considered as piglets until the end of their first year). Such a situation occurs when the piglets of the previous year were born in March and the sow had plenty of milk to feed them. In this case the young boars can participate in mating already at six months of age but they have fewer piglets – from one to three.
In regions where boars are hunted in thick snow and with big and tenacious dogs the sows have fewer piglets: because the sows are exhausted some foetuses are resorbed.
The sow has strong maternal instincts. She doesn’t go more than a few hundred meters from the nest. She protects her piglets against all enemies, with her life if necessary.
The first bears wake up from their hibernation around Women’s day. Sows that have just given birth are easy prey for a big bear. Wolves also rove around. The period when the piglets still live in the nest is a dangerous time for them. This is why it is useful for all the sows in a herd to give birth at the same time.
See the photos sent to us: LINK
Tags: 
