What do wild boars eat in the forest? What does a wild boar eat in the forest and at home? Description of wild boar
Boars in wildlife They are large artiodactyl animals that live in forests. Therefore, when wondering what a wild boar eats, you should immediately focus on its habitat, because it is the forest guarantees food for wild boars, which will be sufficient for the full physical development and duration of the population.
It should be noted that wild boars do not have specific system nutrition because they are omnivores. Simply put, their diet includes almost everything that can be found in the forest at a certain time of the year: these are acorns, underground parts of plants, small animals, larvae, and even carrion. For the most part, wild boar prefer to get their food from the soil.
Because the wild boars belong to omnivorous animals, their diet always directly depends on their habitats and seasons. These animals feed on whatever they can get in their way. Moreover, the wild boar has an excellent memory, which allows it to always return to where it previously fed well.
In a word , a wild boar is an animal that can eat literally everything it can find at a particular moment in time. certain area territories. However, the diet has its own characteristics, which depend on the following factors:
- from geographical location a habitat;
- depending on the time of year;
- on the method of feed availability;
- from the habitat of those animals and insects that may be potential food for wild boars;
- depending on what kind of plants grow in that area, inhabited by wild boars.
If for some reason the animal does not have enough food in its forest habitat, it is forced to raid private fields and vegetable gardens that are located nearby. Which, of course, often becomes the reason for their ruin. If a similar situation happens, and a herd of wild boars makes similar raids to get a hearty meal, then a good harvest there is no need to wait anymore. This leads to the fact that farm owners are simply forced to shoot wild boars looking for food on their territory.
How is the diet of wild boars divided?
The diet of wild boars can be roughly divided into four main groups.
As you can see, the diet of wild animals varies significantly depending on the current time of year. After all, what you can enjoy in the summer can no longer always be found under a layer of snow in the winter.
What does a wild boar eat in winter?
This is the most difficult season for these animals, as there is practically nothing to eat. The summer and autumn abundance has come to an end, which means the search for food is becoming more difficult.
Unfortunately, not all wild boars are able to withstand hungry and harsh winters, so by spring their population becomes smaller.
What does a wild boar eat in spring?
Winter for wild boars is considered the most difficult period in finding food.
So after a long time winter period wild boars often lose body weight and lose a lot of weight, as a result of which at the beginning of spring they are ready to eat literally everything they can get their hands on - even tree bark. However, as soon as the snow begins to melt and other small inhabitants of the forest appear, wild boars begin hunting, which allows them to quickly come back to normal and satiated for a long time.What do wild boars eat in summer?
Perhaps one of the best and most satisfying seasons for wild boars is summer. There is no shortage of food during this period - everything grows, everything bears fruit and is easily accessible.
What does a wild boar eat in autumn?
Autumn abundance also pleases wild boars.
Conclusion
Wild boars are quite large animals that require a huge amount of calories, especially during the winter season, when energy expenditure to maintain normal body temperature increases significantly.
In the summer-autumn period, wild boars can often be found in raspberry fields. Therefore, those who like to pick berries in the forest need to be very careful, especially in the area where these animals may live. After all, they love to eat berries and branches of raspberry bushes.
For most of its life, the boar is accustomed to eating what grows on and under the ground (acorns, apples, rhizomes, ferns, herbs, etc.). However, in order to preserve its fat reserves, the boar must have in its diet not only plant, but also animal food, which significantly increases its calorie reserve.
In rare situations, if a wild boar is too hungry, it is capable of attacking young deer or roe deer. Wild boars do not disdain hares, birds and snakes. If there is a body of water nearby, then the wild boar can be caught fishing.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the wild boar is truly an omnivore that can eat both plant and animal foods to support its vital functions.
You can find out what a wild boar eats by looking at its snout. It is elongated, loose, with a movable snout, which means that the animal mainly digs in the ground, finding food there. The wild boar is not only capable of digging dry leaves and topsoil, sometimes it makes quite deep holes in order to find food there. But what wild boars eat needs to be considered in more detail. By the way, by feeding a boar, you can eventually tame it and start breeding it, just like domestic pigs.
The weight and dimensions of a wild boar largely depend on its habitat
Animal sizes
In ancient times, when wild boar hunting was not so popular, animals could reach 200-300 kg. Nowadays, it is rare to see a large wild pig, the maximum weight of which is more than 200 kg.
But even from this list there are exceptions. For example, in 2007 in Alabama (USA), a hunter met a giant beast. The hunter was young and inexperienced, but at the last moment he did not lose his head and shot at the animal. It subsequently turned out that the weight of the killed boar reached 500 kg, and the length of its body was 3.5 m. Before this incident, in 2004, a boar weighing 340 kg was killed. In Georgia, there was a case of slaughtering a wild pig weighing 360 kg, in Turkey - 350 kg.
The weight and dimensions of the animal largely depend on its habitat. Speaking about large individuals in Russia, it can be noted that they live mainly on Far East. The average weight of adult males is from 70 to 180 kg, length - from 1.5 to 2 m. Females are slightly smaller, their weight ranges from 50-110 kg, and their body length is 1.3-1.7 m.
Nowadays, it is rare to see a large wild pig, the maximum weight of which is more than 200 kg Plant food
The wild boar is an omnivore; the diet for feral pigs is varied and much depends on the habitat. If this is a forest area, then The basis of a wild boar's diet can be the following plants:
- seeds and nuts;
- vegetable fruits;
- mushrooms;
- lichens.
What a wild boar eats depends on its habitat. On the territory of the former Soviet Union it was found in all regions. Its range is perhaps the largest among all mammals. There are significant populations of this animal both on the mainland and on the islands. Wild boars live not only on the plains, but also in the mountains. High population density (1-2 individuals per 1,000 hectares) was noted in the North Caucasus and the Carpathians, especially in Hungary. Wild pigs differ from their domestic relatives in having a more powerful body structure, long and thick front legs, and a narrow, elongated head with a long snout. This allows them not only to run fast and jump well, but also to get through dense thickets without much difficulty.
What a wild boar eats depends on its habitat.
Wild boars live throughout almost the entire territory of the former Soviet Union. The composition of animal feed directly depends on the vegetation characteristic of a given region. In swampy areas, food includes sedge, reeds and calamus. The pig eats not only the rhizomes of plants, but also the green vegetative mass. In places abounding in fish and other river life, the wild boar eats them with pleasure.
The animal does not have constant and year-round feed. They feed on food that is available at a given time, has high nutritional value and is relatively easily accessible. Feed eaten by animals is divided into 4 groups:
- underground parts of plants;
- nuts, mushrooms, berries, fruits;
- vegetative aerial parts of plants;
- animal feed.
It was found that most Pigs find food in the ground. Such feed is used more than 3 times more often than above-ground feed.
Currently, there are 16 subspecies of wild boars, which are grouped into 4 regional groups:
- western;
- Indian;
- eastern;
- Indonesian
Pigs of the Carpathian (Caucasian), Trans-Baikal and Ussuri subspecies live on the territory of Russia. Due to their different habitats, they have significant differences in both body structure and weight. On average, wild boars weigh up to 150 kg. In Eastern Europe, some specimens reach 275 kg. In Primorye and Manchuria, a wild pig weighs up to half a ton.
Herd wild boars are non-migratory animals and move within their territory. Typically, a herd of 30-50 heads occupies an area of about 1 km². They defend their possessions, and if uninvited guests come to them, blood cannot be avoided. True, this rarely happens. If there is not enough food in the forest, then wild pigs make devastating raids on fields and private gardens. Usually there is no need to wait for a harvest after this. Therefore, garden and farm owners often shoot animals.
Pigs happily eat frogs and other amphibians. Very often they ruin bird's nests. Not only chicks suffer from them, but also adults. In swampy areas and forest reservoirs, the pig eats not only waterfowl, but also muskrats and water rats. As a result of such feeding, animals may not eat anything for several days.
Wild boar feeding (video)
Summer meals
After the snow melts, the search begins for food that is radically different from the winter diet. During this period, the pig eats acorns left over from the fall, rhizomes and tender forest vegetation that has begun to turn green. During this period, as a rule, animals like to feast on the bulbs of snowdrops and wild daffodils. They also do not allow the larvae of various insects to pass through, which crawl out of the ground with the onset of warm weather.
The wild boar is an omnivore that does not disdain carrion. It appears especially in abundance in the spring, after long and harsh winters. With the arrival of summer, the diet of animals also changes. Wild boars eat young swamp vegetation, shoots of bushes and trees. During the berry season, the wild pig feasts on low-growing plants. They also wander into raspberry fields. Fans of collecting wild plants at this time need to be extremely careful.
Herd wild boars are non-migratory animals and move within their territory
In nature, everything is interconnected, so during periods when food is abundant, animals give birth to offspring. At one month of age, piglets begin to eat food, which is found with the help of adult pigs. Despite this, the mother feeds the piglets until they are 3 months old. Closer to autumn, animals appear in abandoned gardens and farmsteads. There they eat carrion of apples and pears. In such places there are a lot of rodents, which serve as an excellent animal protein supplement to the diet. In hot weather, the animal likes to wallow in the mud. This also protects it from insects.
In deciduous forests they eat acorns and seeds of other trees. Animals happily chew nuts and cones. Having an excellent sense of smell, they easily find myceliums under the foliage. The diet during this period is designed to prepare the body for the harsh winter.
Gallery: wild boar (25 photos)
Wild boars (video)
Winter feeding
With the onset of cold weather, the ground freezes, and it becomes increasingly difficult for the boar to obtain food. Having a good memory, the wild boar returns to places where it fed on acorns and beech nuts in the fall. During the thaw period, animals actively feed on underground parts of plants. Using their keen sense of smell, they search for small rodents under the snow. In particularly harsh winters, the wild boar eats leaves, moss, bark and tree branches. Such food is forced, since the body is not adapted to assimilate this food.
During such periods, it is almost impossible to do without human help. By feeding animals, foresters, if not increasing, then at least maintaining the animal population. Feeders are usually placed in clearings away from forest roads.
Legume hay, root crops and grain are used as feed. A good animal protein supplement is briquettes made from meat and bone or fish meal.
Feeding a boar is not difficult. Having a good sense of smell and memory, these animals easily find places to install feeders. And once they arrive there, they will visit periodically. Poachers take advantage of this. As a result of their activities, the animal population is declining, and in some regions it is falling to a level at which its restoration naturally impossible. To replenish the herd, forestry practices practice breeding wild boars in natural conditions. With this method, the animal does not get used to the person, looks for food on its own and is in a familiar environment. Having reached a certain age, they are released into the wild, where they join the main herd or form a new family.
Hunting farms breed wild boars for their reserves. It is for these animals that licensed hunting is allowed. Funds received from the sale of licenses go to the development of farms and maintenance of the herd. Only A complex approach to the protection of wild fauna will allow maintaining optimal numbers of wild boar herds and preventing their extermination.
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A wild boar is an animal belonging to the order Artiodactyla, the family of pigs. This is a large, stocky forest dweller; the average weight of an adult male can exceed 250 kg. To gain such a substantial mass, the boar must be well fed. Let's figure out what the wild boar eats.
These wild pigs are omnivores, their “menu” includes plant food V large quantities, including underground parts of plants:
- bulbs;
- rhizomes;
- tubers;
- roots.
Ground parts of plants: foliage, branches.
- mushrooms;
- juicy and dry fruits and berries, nuts and acorns;
- tree branches and grass preserved in the snow help wild boars in harsh winters.
In addition to plant foods, wild boars also love animal foods:
- snails;
- larvae;
- lizards;
- frogs;
- rodents;
- birds.
If necessary, they do not disdain carrion.
The diet can vary depending on where exactly the boar lives, and the range of their presence is impressive: from warm zones Western Europe to the harsh conditions of the Far East and north.
What does a wild boar eat in the forest? This largely depends on the time of year in which the animal has to survive, as well as on the availability of food. The boar does not have any a certain type of food, so he gets the food that is abundant at this time of year.
in winter
During the harshest time of the year, things are tough for wild boars; not all of them manage to survive the lack of food. In the snow, animals pull out acorns that have fallen in autumn, undermine roots, and hunt mice, guided by their instincts. Common horsetail, which is unattractive to boars in summer, is also used as food. During the thaw period, when the snow becomes soft, wild boars have the opportunity to extract roots of bushes and trees from underground. In particularly hungry times, a wild boar may well eat tree bark, branches, even carrion. But due to the peculiarities of the digestive system, boars are not particularly fond of branches, leaves, dry grass and mosses; this is only forced food.
The question of what the wild boar eats is becoming increasingly relevant not only for hunters, but also for farmers, because in Lately Breeding these animals on farms is becoming increasingly popular. Many hunting farms have been breeding these pigs for a very long time and have impressive experience in this matter. However, breeding wild boars living freely in natural conditions, is somewhat different from their enclosure content.
The question of what the wild boar eats is becoming increasingly relevant not only for hunters, but also for farmers
The fact is that animals come to the feeders installed in certain places of the hunting farm for additional food. They find the bulk of their varied menu in nature. Of course, wild boars are quite capable of feeding themselves only on natural products, but by feeding pigs, foresters and rangers contribute to a significant increase in their numbers. The more feed a pig receives, the more piglets it can give birth to and feed. And in winter, human care for forest inhabitants often saves them from starvation.
Almost everyone knows that this is an omnivore. Wild pigs easily adapt to the food that they can find in their habitat. And in these animals it is simply enormous. Wild pigs live on all continents and can occupy almost any habitat. Most of all they prefer broad-leaved and mixed forests. They willingly settle near bodies of water. However, wild pigs are often found in forest-steppe, steppe and semi-desert areas. Wild boars can be seen quite high in the mountains. The composition of wild pig feed varies significantly depending on the time of year. They feed on everything they can find in their habitat.
The basis of the diet of wild boars is plant food. Throughout the year, these animals, with the help of sharp fangs, hooves and a long elastic and mobile snout, dig up tubers, roots, and bulbs of various plants. Boars feed on the underground parts of anemone, knotweed, kupena, marigold, calliper and other plants. With the arrival of spring and the appearance of lush young greenery, artiodactyls begin to eat more vegetative parts of plants. Green mass in the spring-summer diet makes up at least 30% of the total food volume.
Wild boars happily eat the green parts of dandelions, marsh thistle, nettle, marigold, impatiens, and grassweed. In autumn, their diet is varied with various fruits, nuts, acorns, mushrooms and berries. They willingly eat carrion from wild apple, pear, cherry and other trees. fruit trees. Wandering into agricultural fields, wild boars can feast on vegetables and root crops cultivated plants, which include beets, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. Most of all, they love milky corn on the cob.
Many hunting farms have been breeding these pigs for a very long time and have impressive experience in this matter. In winter, the menu becomes noticeably poorer. It includes tree bark, young branches of bushes and plant rhizomes dug out from under the snow. Great importance Boars' diet includes protein feed. By digging up the forest floor, animals not only promote seed germination, but also destroy many insect pests and their larvae. Boars do not disdain worms, snails, frogs, lizards and snakes. They can eat rodents, eggs and chicks that have fallen from the nest. In times of famine, wild boars do not refuse carrion. Interestingly, in the diet of wild pigs living along the banks of large rivers and other bodies of water, large quantities there are fish, aquatic mollusks, crayfish and plants growing along the banks of reservoirs: reed, cattail, chilim, arrowhead and umbrella susak. During periods of mass reproduction of locusts, wild boars actively eat adults and larvae of this insect, which greatly contributes to reducing the spread of locusts.
The composition of feed depends very much on the geographical habitat of wild boars. So, in Central Asia They are found mainly in mountainous and foothill regions, and a significant proportion of the diet is occupied by the bulbs and roots of geraniums, tulips, knotweed, mantle and dandelions. In autumn, the animals feed on the carrion of wild apple, pear, cherry plum, hawthorn, Magalep cherry, and barberry. Nuts eaten include walnuts, almonds, and pistachios.
In Eastern Siberia, wild boars often get pine nuts, underground parts of lilies and saranok. In winter, they take out dried plants, lingonberries and mushrooms from under the snow. When starved of food, a wild pig even eats the needles of larch and fir trees.
In the Far East, wild boars are fed on pine nuts and Mongolian oak acorns. In summer, underground parts of lespedeza, mountain ash, spirea, and rhododendrons are dug up. The pig can profit from horsetail, wild grapes, umbellifers and nettles.
In winter, the menu becomes noticeably poorer. It includes tree bark, young branches of bushes and plant rhizomes dug out from under the snow. Wild boars usually come out to feed at dusk. But in places where they are fed, they can feed during daylight hours. The wild pig is a very intelligent and cautious animal. When approaching the feeding area, the animals stand in the bushes for a while and listen. After making sure that nothing threatens them, they begin feeding. Large adult cleavers eat first. Having eaten, they leave the feeders. After them, sows and piglets approach the food. The last to eat the leftovers are single grown-up pigs. Animals are fed with hay and grain waste. You can feed a wild boar by simply scattering hay on the ground. Sometimes special feeders are arranged for them. The wild pig loves rock salt.
Gallery: wild boar (25 photos)
Wild boar (video)
Keeping at home
If wild boars are bred in captivity, their diet is based on feed and concentrates. Almost everything a domesticated animal eats. Just like domestic pigs, wild boars can eat any waste from the garden and the owner's table. One adult wild pig eats up to 5 kg of feed per day. That's why everyone goes to their feeder food waste. They can be fed with vegetable and fruit peelings, plant tops, freshly cut grass and hay. Any grains (wheat, oats, rye, barley) and legumes (peas, beans) are used as food.
A special delicacy for domestic boars are acorns and nuts. They eat bread and corn with pleasure.
They make porridge from cereals, which the pigs readily eat. The feed must contain protein products: minced meat, fish and meat waste, cottage cheese, milk, meat and bone meal. You can feed dead chickens or chicks to wild boars poultry. They are fed 3 times a day. For pigs, trough-type feeders are placed directly on the ground. Their size should be 30x300 cm.
Wild boar in nature (video)
Nutrition process
Pig in early spring gives birth to from 4 to 12 piglets. She feeds the cubs with milk for 3.5 months. The piglets grow very quickly and gain weight. By autumn their weight reaches 20-30 kg. Individuals aged one year are used for meat.
