The Wild boar of Sri Lanka
Keep your eyes open on your 4x4 Safari tour of Yala National Park. Sri Lankan Wild Boar can be found throughout the park. They like to be near jungle cover just in case the get spotted by a leopard.
Yala National Park Sri Lankan Wild Boar
Do not be fooled in thinking these animals are just like domestic pigs. They know how to fight back if cornered. You may be lucky to see them near the National Park ticket office. Some Wild Boar families have realised that thee is easy pickings to be had amongst the tourist Safari vehicles. Buy some fruit or vegetables from the stalls near the gate and give them that rather than processed food.
Wild Boar will eat nearly anything including dead deer and buffalo. They are omnivorous that normally eat fruit, seed, nuts and roots. This constitutes 90% of their diet. They are the best scavengers in Sri Lanka. They look very similar to the wild boars you find in Europe but not as stocky or hairy.
Yala National Park ticket office area is great for spotting Sri Lankan Wild Boar
The Wild Boars are most active in the cooler parts of the day. At Midday they seek out shade and a nice place for a snooze. Their main predator is man followed by the leopard and Jackal.
The male has large canine teeth in the top and bottom of his jaw which he uses for defence as well as eating. The female's teeth are smaller. They have a very keen sense of smell but their eyesight and hearing is not as good. After mating a litter of 4 to 8 pigs will be born 4 months later. Sows can have more than one litter a year.
Yala National Park Sri Lankan Wild Boar mother and piglets
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