Wild boar (
Sus scrofa) is a species of
pig, including at least 16 subspecies, and part
of the
biological family Suidae. It is the wild ancestor of the
domestic pig, an animal with which it freely
hybridises.
Wild boar are native across much of Northern
and Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region (including North
Africa's Atlas Mountains) and much
of Asia as far south as Indonesia
. Populations have also been artificially
introduced in some parts of the world, most notably
the Americas and
Australasia; principally for hunting. Elsewhere,
populations have also become established after escapes of wild boar
from captivity.
Name
The term
boar is used to denote an adult male of certain
species — including, confusingly, domestic pigs. However, for wild
boar, it applies to the whole species, including, for instance,
"sow wild boar" or
"wild boar piglet".
Wild boar are also known by various names, including
wild hogs or simply
boars. In America they are often referred
to as
razorbacks, pineywoods,
rooters and
European
boars.
Physical characteristics

Wild boar skeleton
The body of the wild boar is compact; the head is large, the legs
relatively short. The
fur consists of stiff
bristles and usually finer fur. The colour usually varies from dark
grey to black or brown, but there are great regional differences in
colour; even whitish animals are known from
central Asia. During winter the fur is much
denser.
Adult boars average 120–180 cm in length and have a shoulder
height of 90 cm. As a whole, their average weight is
50–90 kg kilograms (110–200 pounds), though boars show a
great deal of weight variation within their geographical ranges. In
central Italy their weight usually ranges from 80 to 100 kg;
boars shot in
Tuscany have been recorded to
weigh 150 kg (331 lb).
A French specimen shot in Negremont forest
in Ardenne
in 1999
weighed 227 kg (550 lb). Carpathian
boars have been recorded to reach weights of
200 kg (441 lb), while Romanian
and Russian
boars can
reach weights of 300 kg (661 lb). Generally
speaking, native Eurasian boars follow the
Bergmann's rule, with smaller boars nearer
the tropics and larger, smaller-eared boars in the North of their
range.
The continuously growing
tusks (the canine
teeth) serve as weapons and tools. The lower tusks of an adult male
measure about (from which seldom more than protrude out of the
mouth), in exceptional cases even . The upper tusks are bent
upwards in males, and are regularly ground against the lower ones
to produce sharp edges. In females they are smaller, and the upper
tusks are only slightly bent upwards in older individuals.
Wild boar piglets are coloured differently from adults, being a
soft brown with longitudinal darker stripes. The stripes fade by
the time the piglet is about half-grown, when the animal takes on
the adult's grizzled grey or brown colour.
Litter size of wild boars may vary depending on their location. A
study in the
Great Smoky
Mountains National Park in the US reported a mean litter size
of 3.3.
A
similar study on Santa Catalina Island,
California
reported a mean litter size of 5. Larger
litter sizes have been reported in Europe.
Behavior/social structure
Adult males are usually solitary outside of the breeding season,
but females and their offspring (both sub-adult males and females)
live in groups called
sounders. Sounders typically number
around 20 animals, although groups of over 50 have been seen, and
will consist of 2 to 3 sows; one of which will be the dominant
female. Group structure changes with the coming and going of
farrowing females, the migration of maturing males (usually when
they reach around 4 years old) and the arrival of unrelated
sexually active males.
Wild boar are usually
crepuscular,
foraging from dusk until dawn but with resting periods during both
night and day. They eat almost anything they come across, including
grass,
nuts,
berries,
carrion,
roots,
tubers,
refuse,
insects, small
reptiles. Wild boar are also known to predate on
young deer and
lambs. This has not
been reported in the UK, but is a common problem in
Australia.
Boars are the only hoofed animals known to dig burrows.
If surprised or cornered, a boar (and particularly a sow with her
piglets) can and will defend itself and its young with intense
vigor. The male lowers its head, charges, and then slashes upward
with his tusks. The female, whose tusks are not visible, charges
with her head up, mouth wide, and bites. Such attacks are not often
fatal to humans, but may result in severe trauma, dismemberment, or
blood loss.
Reproduction

Piglets nursing
Sexual activity and testosterone production in males is triggered
by decreasing day length, reaching a peak in mid-autumn. The
normally solitary males then move into female groups and rival
males fight for dominance, whereupon the largest and most dominant
males achieve the most matings.
The age of puberty for sows ranges from 8 to 24 months of age
depending on environmental and nutritional factors. Pregnancy lasts
approximately 115 days and a sow will leave the group to construct
a mound-like nest, 1–3 days before giving birth (
farrowing).
The process of giving birth to a litter lasts between 2–3 hours and
the sow and piglets remain in, or close to the nest for 4–6 days.
Sows rejoin the group after 4–5 days and the piglets will cross
suckle between other lactating sows.
Litter size is typically 4-6 piglets but may be smaller for first
litter, usually 2-3. The sex ratio at birth 1:1. Piglets weigh
between 750g - 1000g at birth. Rooting behaviour develops in
piglets as early as the first few days of life and piglets are
fully weaned after 3–4 months. They will begin to eat solid foods
such as worms and grubs after about 2 weeks.
Range
Reconstructed range

Reconstructed range of wild boar
(green) and introduced populations (blue)
Wild boar
were originally found in North Africa
and much of Eurasia; from the British Isles
to Korea
and the
Sunda
Islands
. In the north, populations extended to
Southern Scandinavia and as far south as
southern Siberia
.
Within this range it was absent in extremely dry deserts and
alpine zones.
A few
centuries ago it was found in North Africa along the Nile valley up to Khartum
and north of
the Sahara. The reconstructed
northern boundary of the range in Asia ran from Lake Ladoga
(at 60°N) through the area of Novgorod
and Moscow
into the
southern Ural, where it reached
52°N. From there the boundary passed Ishim
and farther
east the Irtysh
at
56°N. In the eastern Baraba steppe (near Novosibirsk
) the boundary turned steep south, encircled the
Altai
Mountains
, and went
again eastward including the Tannu-Ola Mountains
and Lake
Baikal
. From here the boundary went slightly north
of the Amur
River
eastward to its lower reaches at the China Sea. At
Sachalin there are only
fossil reports of wild boar. The southern boundaries
in Europe and Asia were almost everywhere identical to the sea
shores of these continents. In dry deserts and high mountain
ranges, the wild boar is naturally absent.
So it is absent in
the dry regions of Mongolia
from 44–46°N southward, in China
westward of
Sichuan
and in India
north of the
Himalaya
. In high altitudes of Pamir and Tien
Shan
they are also absent; however, at Tarim basin and on the lower slopes of the Tien
Shan they do occur.
Present range
In recent centuries, the range of wild boar has changed
dramatically; largely due to hunting by humans and more recently
because of captive wild boar escaping into the wild. For many years
populations dwindled.
They probably became extinct in Great Britain
in the 13th century. In Denmark
the last boar was shot at the beginning of the 19th
century, and in 1900 they were absent in Tunisia
and Sudan
and large
areas of Germany
, Austria
and Italy
.
In
Russia
they were extinct in wide areas in the
1930s.
By
contrast, during this period, a strong population of boar remained
in France
and
Spain
, despite being hunted for food and
sport.
A revival of boar populations began in the middle of the last
century. By 1950 wild boar had once again reached their original
northern boundary in many parts of their Asiatic range.
By 1960
they reached Saint
Petersburg
and Moscow
, and by 1975
they were to be found in Archangelsk
and Astrakhan
. In the 1970s they again occurred in Denmark
and Sweden
, where
captive animals escaped and now survive in the wild. (The
wild boar population in Sweden was estimated to be around 80,000 in
2006 but is now considered to be in excess of 100,000). In the
1990s boar migrated into
Tuscany in Italy.
In England, wild boar populations re-established themselves in the
1990s, after escaping from specialist farms that had imported
European stock.
Elsewhere, in 1493,
Christopher
Columbus brought 8 hogs to the West Indies. Importation to the
American mainland was in the mid 1500's by
Hernan Cortes and
Hernando de Soto, and in the mid 1600's by
Sieur de La Salle. Pure Eurasian
boar were also imported there for sport hunting in the early 1900s.
Sizeable populations of feral domestic pigs, closely related to
wild boar, also live in Australia, New Zealand and North and South
America.
Status in Britain
Between their medieval extinction and the 1980s, when wild boar
farming began, only a handful of captive wild boar, imported from
the continent, were present in Britain. Occasional escapes of wild
boar from wildlife parks have occurred as early as the 1970s, but
since the early 1990s significant populations have re-established
themselves after escapes from farms; the number of which has
increased as the demand for wild boar meat has grown.
A 1998
MAFF
(now DEFRA
) study on wild boar living wild in Britain
confirmed the presence of two populations of wild boar living in
Britain; one in Kent
/East Sussex
and another in Dorset
.
These allegedly arose as a result of damage to fences during the
1987 hurricane.
Another DEFRA report, in February 2008,
confirmed the existence of these two sites as 'established breeding
areas' and identified a third in Gloucestershire
/Herefordshire
; in the Forest of Dean
/Ross on
Wye
area. A 'new breeding population' was also
identified in Devon
.
Populations estimates were;
- The largest population, in Kent/East Sussex, was estimated at
approximately 200 animals in the core distribution area.
- The second largest, in Gloucestershire/Herefordshire, was
estimated to be in excess of 50 animals.
- The smallest, in west Dorset, was estimated to be fewer than 50
animals.
- Since
winter 2005/6 significant escapes/releases have also resulted in
animals colonising areas around the fringes of Dartmoor
, in Devon
.
These are considered as an additional single 'new breeding
population' and currently estimated to be up to 50 animals.
In December 2005 animal rights activists released about 100 boar
from a farm at
West Anstey, in Devon.
Although some were recaptured many of these remained at large with
boar with young being sighted some miles from the point of release
in the following year, especially on the fringes of Exmoor. Some of
these were filmed by local wildlife cameraman Johnny Kingdom and
featured on his BBC TV programmes. Some have estimated this
population at about 200 animals by late 2009.
Figures for the Forest of Dean have since been disputed and are
potentially in excess of 200, with groups of over 30 having been
seen and photographed in several different locations in the forest.
The
Forest of Dean population originates from one escape of boar of
Eastern European origin in 1997 from a farm near Weston under
Penyard
, and another apparently deliberate release near
Staunton in 2004. . Until 2007 the
two groups were separate but the likelihood is that they will soon
meet up if they have not already done so. The current number of
boar in the Forest of Dean (October 2009) is open to question as
the Forestry Commission are culling the boar but as yet no
indications as to the size of the cull are available.
Two boar from the Forest of Dean population have qualified for Gold
Medals under the Conseil International du Chasse (CIC) game trophy
measurement system.
The largest of these and the current UK
record was shot near Ross on
Wye
in 2008 and scored 123.7 CIC points beating the
previous record shot in the same area by 1.2 points. It had
lower tusks of 23.9 cms and 23.1 cms in length and weighed about
240kgs.
There are
also reports of wild boar from from the Forest of Dean having
crossed the River Wye into Monmouthshire, Wales
..
Many other sightings, across the UK, have also been reported.
Wild boar farming in the UK
Captive wild boar in Britain are kept in private or public wildlife
collections and in zoos, but exist predominantly on farms. Because
wild boar are included in the
Dangerous Wild Animals Act
1976, certain legal requirements have to be met prior to
setting up a farm. A licence to keep boar is required from the
local council, who will appoint a specialist to inspect the
premises and report back to the council. Requirements include
secure accommodation and fencing, correct drainage, temperature,
lighting, hygiene, ventilation and insurance.
The original U.K. wild boar farm stock was mainly of French origin,
but from 1987 onwards, farmers have supplemented the original stock
with animals of both west European and east European origin. The
east European animals were imported from farm stock in Sweden
because Sweden, unlike eastern Europe, has a similar health status
for pigs to that of Britain. Currently there is no central register
listing all the wild boar farms in the UK, the total number of wild
boar farms is unknown.
Status in Germany
Recently, Germany has reported a surge in the wild boar population.
According to one such study, "German wild boar litters have six to
eight piglets on average, other countries usually only about four
or five."
Status in the United States
Wild boar in
the Americas are generally
known as
Razorbacks. As of 2008, the estimated population
of 4 million boar caused an estimated
US$800
million of property damage a year in the U.S.A
Subspecies
Different subspecies can usually be distinguished by the relative
lengths and shapes of their
lacrimal
bones.
S. scrofa cristatus and
S. scrofa
vittatus have shorter lacrimal bones than European subspecies.
Spanish
and French boar specimens have 36 chromosomes, as opposed to wild boar in the rest
of Europe which possess 38, the same number as domestic
pigs. Boars with 36 chromosomes have successfully mated with
animals possessing 38, resulting in fertile offspring with 37
chromosomes.
Four subspecies groups are generally recognized based on
geographical information:
The Western Races
- European Wild Boar Sus scrofa scrofa:
The most common and most widespread subspecies, its original
distribution ranges from France to European Russia. It has been
introduced in Sweden, Norway, the USA and Canada.
- Iberian Wild Boar Sus scrofa
baeticus: A small subspecies present in the Iberian
Peninsula.
- Castillian Wild Boar Sus scrofa
castilianus: Larger than baeticus, it inhabits
northern Spain.
- Sardinian Wild Boar Sus scrofa
meridionalis: A small subspecies present in Sardinia.
- Italian Wild Boar Sus scrofa majori:
A subspecies smaller than scrofa with a higher and wider
skull. It occurs in central and southern Italy. Since the 1950s, it
has hybridized extensively with introduced scrofa
populations.
- Sus scrofa attila: A very large subspecies ranging
from Romania, Hungary, in Transylvania and in the Caucuses up to
the Caspian Sea. It is thought that boars present in Ukraine, Asia
Minor and Iran are part of this subspecies.
- Barbary Wild Boar Sus scrofa algira:
Northern Africa
- Sus scrofa lybica: Middle
East
- Sus scrofa sennaarensis: Extinct
subspecies from Egypt
and
Sudan
- Sus scrofa nigripes: Central
Asia
The Indian Races
- Indian Wild Boar Sus scrofa
cristatus: More lightly built than European boar. Its head is
larger and more pointed than that of the European boar, and its
ears smaller and more pointed. The plane of the forehead straight,
while it is concave in the European. Occurs in Indochina and India

- Sus scrofa affinis (Southern India
and Sri
Lanka
)
- Sus scrofa davidi
The Eastern Races
- Manchurian Wild Boar Sus scrofa
ussuricus (Manchuria)
- Japanese Wild Boar Sus
scrofa leucomystax (Japan
)
- Formosan Wild Boar Sus
scrofa taivanus (Taiwan
)
- Ryuku Wild Boar Sus
scrofa riukiuanus (Ryuku Islands
, Japan
)
- Sus scrofa moupinensis (Southern
and Central China
)
- Siberian Wild Boar Sus
scrofa sibiricus: Siberia

The Indonesian Races
- Banded pig Sus
scrofa vittatus (Indonesia, might be a separate species)
Domestic pig
The
domestic pig is usually regarded as
a further subspecies;
Sus scrofa domestica - although
sometimes classified as a separate species;
Sus
domestica.
Feral pigs
Domestic pigs quite readily become
feral, and
feral populations often revert to a similar appearance to wild
boar; they can then be difficult to distinguish from natural or
introduced true wild boar (with which they also readily
interbreed). The characterization of populations as feral pig,
escaped domestic pig or wild boar is usually decided by where the
animals are encountered and what is known of their history.
In
New
Zealand
, for example, feral pigs are known as "Captain
Cookers" from their supposed descent from liberations and gifts to
Māori by explorer Captain James Cook in the 1770s. New Zealand feral
pigs are also frequently known as "tuskers", due to their
appearance.
One characteristic by which domestic and feral animals are
differentiated is their coats. Feral animals almost always have
thick, bristly coats ranging in colour from brown through grey to
black. A prominent ridge of hair matching the spine is also common,
giving rise to the name
razorback
in the
southern United
States, where they are common. The tail is usually long and
straight. Feral animals tend also to have longer legs than domestic
breeds and a longer and narrower head and snout.
A very
large swine dubbed Hogzilla was shot in
Georgia,
USA
in June 2004. Initially thought to be a
hoax, the story became something of an internet sensation.
National Geographic Explorer
investigated the story, sending scientists into the field. After
exhuming the animal and performing
DNA testing,
it was determined that Hogzilla was a hybrid of wild boar and
domestic swine.
At the
beginning of the 20th century, wild boar were introduced for
hunting in the United
States
, where they interbred in parts with free roaming
domestic pigs. In South America, New Guinea
, New
Zealand
, Australia and other
islands, wild boar have also been introduced by humans and have
partially interbred with domestic pigs.
In South
America, also during the early 20th century, free-ranging boars
were introduced in Uruguay
for hunting purposes and eventually crossed the
border into Brazil
sometime
during the 1990s, quickly becoming an invasive species, licensed private hunting
of both feral boars and hybrids (javaporcos) being allowed
from August 2005 on in the Southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, although their presence
as a pest had been already noticed by the press as early as
1994. Releases and escapes from unlicensed farms
(established because of increased demand for boar meat as an
alternative to pork), however, continued to
bolster feral populations and by mid-2008 licensed hunts had to be
expanded to the states of Santa Catarina
and São Paulo
.
Recently-established Brazilian boar
populations are not to be confused with long established
populations of feral domestic pigs (porcos monteiros),
which have existed mainly in the Pantanal
for more than a hundred years, along with native
peccaries. The demographic dynamics
of the interaction between feral pigs populations and those of the
two native species of peccaries (
Collared Peccary and
White-lipped Peccary) is obscure and is
being studied presently. It has been proposed that the existence of
feral pigs could somewhat ease
jaguar
predation on peccary populations, as jaguars would show a
preference for hunting pigs, when these are available.
As of 2008, the estimated population of 4 million feral hogs cause
an estimated
US$800 million of property damage a
year in the U.S.
Natural predators
Wild boar are a main food source for
tigers in
the regions where they coexist. Tigers typically follow boar
groups, and pick off the weak or sick ones. Tigers have been noted
to chase boars for longer distances than with other prey, though
they will usually avoid tackling mature male boars. In many cases,
boars have gored tigers to death in self defense.
Wolves are also major predators of boars in
some areas. Wolves mostly feed on piglets, though adults have been
recorded to be taken in Italy, the Iberian Peninsula and Russia.
Wolves rarely attack boars head on, preferring to tear at their
perineum, causing loss of coordination and
massive
blood loss. In some areas of the
former Soviet Union, a single wolf pack can consume an average of
50–80 wild boars annually. In areas of Italy where the two animals
are sympatric, the extent to which boars are preyed upon by wolves
has led to them developing more aggressive behaviour toward both
wolves and domestic dogs.
Striped hyenas occasionally feed on
boars, though it has been suggested that only hyenas from the three
larger subspecies present in Northwest Africa, the Middle East and
India can successfully kill them.
Young piglets are important prey for several species, including
large snakes, such as the
reticulated
python, large
birds of prey and
various wild
felids. Adults, due to their
size, strength and defensive aggression, are generally avoided as
prey. However, they have been taken additionally by mature
leopards; large bears (mainly
brown bears); and mature
crocodiles. All predators of boars are
opportunistic and would take piglets given the opportunity. Where
introduced outside of their natural range, boars may be at the top
of the food chain, but are also sometimes taken by predators
similar to those in their native Eurasia.
Commercial use
The hair of the boar was often used for the production of the
toothbrush until the invention of
synthetic materials in the 1930s. The hair for the bristles usually
came from the neck area of the boar. While such brushes were
popular because the bristles were soft, this was not the best
material for
oral hygiene as the hairs
were slow to dry and usually retained bacteria. Today's
toothbrushes are made with plastic bristles.
Boar hair is used in the manufacture of boar-bristle hairbrushes,
which are considered to be gentler on hair—and much more
expensive—than common plastic-bristle hairbrushes. However, among
shaving brushes, which are almost exclusively made with animal
fibers, the cheaper models use boar bristles, while badger hair is
used in much more expensive models.
Boar hair is used in the manufacture of paintbrushes, especially
those used for oil painting. Boar bristle paintbrushes are stiff
enough to spread thick paint well, and the naturally split or
"flagged" tip of the untrimmed bristle helps hold more paint.
Despite claims that boar bristles have been used in the manufacture
of premium
dart boards for use with
steel-tipped darts, these boards are, in fact, made of other
materials and fibers—the finest ones from
sisal rope.
In many countries, boar are farmed for their meat, and in countries
such as France, for example, boar (
sanglier) may often be
found for sale in butcher shops or offered in restaurants (although
the consumption of wild boar meat has been linked to transmission
of
Hepatitis E in Japan). In Germany,
boar meat ranks among the highest priced types of meat and is as
much part of high standard cuisine as
venison.
Mythology, religion, history and fiction

A Roman Antefix roof tile showing the
boar badge and standard of the Twentieth Legion
In
Greek mythology, two boars are
particularly well known. The
Erymanthian Boar was hunted by
Heracles as one of his
Twelve Labours, and the
Calydonian Boar was hunted in the
Calydonian Hunt by dozens of other mythological heroes,
including some of the
Argonauts and the
huntress
Atalanta.
Ares, the Greek god of war, had the ability to
transform himself into a wild boar, and even gored his son to death
in this form to prevent the young man from growing too attractive
and stealing his wife.
In
Celtic mythology the boar was
sacred to the Gallic goddess
Arduinna, and
boar hunting features in several stories of Celtic and
Irish mythology. One such story is that of
how
Fionn mac Cumhaill ("Finn
McCool") lured his rival
Diarmuid Ua
Duibhne to his death—gored by a wild boar.
In the
Asterix comic series set in
Gaul, wild boar are the favourite food of
Obelix whose immense appetite means that he
can eat several roasted boar in a single sitting.
The
Norse gods
Freyr and
Freyja both had boars.
Freyr's boar was named
Gullinbursti
("Golden Mane"), who was manufactured by the dwarf
Sindri due to a bet between Sindri's
brother
Brokkr and
Loki.
The bristles in Gullinbursti's mane glowed in the dark to
illuminate the way for his owner. Freya rode the boar
Hildesvini (Battle Swine) when she was not using
her cat-drawn chariot. According to the poem
Hyndluljóð, Freyja concealed the
identity of her protégé
Óttar
by turning him into a boar. In Norse mythology, the boar was
generally associated with fertility.
In
Persia
during the Sassanid
Empire, boars were respected as fierce and brave creatures, and
the adjective "Boraz (Goraz)" (meaning boar) was sometimes added to
a person's name to show his bravery and courage.
The
famous Sassanid spahbod, Shahrbaraz, who conquered Egypt
and the
Levant, had his name derived Shahr(city)
+ Baraz(boar like/brave) meaning "Boar of the
City".
In
Hindu mythology, the third
avatar of the
Lord
Vishnu was
Varaha, a boar.
In
Chinese horoscope the
boar (sometimes also translated as
pig), is one of the twelve animals of the zodiac, based on
the legends about its creation, either involving
Buddha or the
Jade
Emperor.
At least three
Roman Legions are known
to have had a boar as their emblems:
Legio I Italica,
Legio X Fretensis and
Legio XX Valeria Victrix.
X
Fretensis was centrally involved in the First Jewish–Roman War,
culminating with the destruction of Jerusalem
and the Jewish Temple
in 70 AD. In addition, it was stationed in
Roman-occupied Judea for centuries and was involved in numerous
other acts of oppression against the Jews. By one theory,
resentment of this Legion's boar emblem, which came to be
identified with extreme destruction and persecution, partly
accounts for the deep-rooted traditional Jewish aversion for
pork. (The Bible does not single out pigs in
comparison with the many other
unclean
animals whose flesh is forbidden; nevertheless, in actual
Jewish culture pigs are clearly singled out for a special, highly
emotional loathing, of a kind not directed at other unclean
animals).
A boar is
a long-standing symbol of the city of Milan
, Italy
. In
Andrea Alciato's
Emblemata
(1584), beneath a woodcut of the first raising of Milan's city
walls, a boar is seen lifted from the excavation. The foundation of
Milan is credited to two Celtic peoples, the
Bituriges and the
Aedui,
having as their
emblems a ram and a boar
respectively; therefore "The city's symbol is a wool-bearing boar,
an animal of double form, here with sharp bristles, there with
sleek wool." Alciato credits the most saintly and learned
Ambrose for his account.
In
Medieval hunting the boar, like
the
hart, was a 'beast of venery', the
most prestigious form of quarry. It was normally hunted by being
harboured, or found by a 'limer', or
bloodhound handled on a leash, before the pack of
hounds were released to pursue it on its hot scent. In The poem
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight a boar hunt is described,
which depicts how dangerous the boar could be to the pack hounds,
or
raches, which hunted it.
A story
from Nevers
, which is
reproduced in the Golden
Legend, states that one night Charlemagne dreamed he was about to be killed by
a wild boar during a hunt, but was saved by the
appearance of a child, who had promised to save the emperor if he
would give him clothes to cover his nakedness. The bishop of Nevers interpreted this dream to
mean that the child was Saint Cyricus
and that he wanted the emperor to repair the roof of the Cathédrale Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte de
Nevers
- which Charlemagne duly did.
The ancient
Lowland Scottish
Clan Swinton is said to have to have
acquired the name Swinton for their bravery and clearing their area
of Wild Boar.
The chief's coat of arms and the clan crest
allude to this legend, as is the name of the village of Swinewood
in the county of Berwick
which was granted to them in the Eleventh
Century.
Richard III (r. 1483–1485)
used the white boar as his personal heraldic device and symbol. It
was also passed to his short-lived son,
Edward.
Folklore, in the Forest of Dean, England, tells of a giant boar,
known as the
Beast of Dean, which
terrorised villagers in the early 19th century.
Heraldry and other symbolic use
The wild boar and a boar's head are common
charges in
heraldry. It represents what are often seen as the
positive qualities of the boar, namely courage and fierceness in
battle. The arms of the Campbell of Possil family (see
Carter-Campbell of Possil) include
the head, erect and erased of a wild boar. The arms of the
Swinton Family also possess wild boar.
See also
References
-
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/specialarticles/mam1_xx.pdf
- http://www.suwanneeriverranch.com/wild-boar.htm
- V. G. Heptner and A. A. Sludskii: Mammals of the Soviet
Union Vol. II, Part 2 Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats). Leiden,
New York, 1989 ISBN 900408876 8
-
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sus_scrofa.html
-
http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/wild%20boar%20action%20plan.pdf
- http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/profile.html
- V. G. Heptner and A. A. Sludskii: Mammals of the
Sowjetunion Vol. II, Part 2 CARNIVORA (Hyaenas and Cats).
Leiden, New York, 1989 ISBN 900408876 8
- http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/britain.htm
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/598.shtml
- http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2008/080219b.htm
-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/species/mammals/wild_boar.shtml
- http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/
- Natural History of the Mammalia of India and
Ceylon, by Robert A. Sterndale
- "Javali: fronteiras rompidas" ("Boars break across the border")
Globo Rural 9:99, January 1994, ISSN 0102-6178,
pgs.32/35
- /www.arroiogrande.com/especiais_javali.htm
- For example Berl Katznelson, a major ideologue of
Socialist Zionism and not a religious
person himself, spoke out very vehemently against the eating of
pork and called for it to be forbidden in the future Jewish
state—which was not his position about other kinds of meat
forbidden by the Jewish religion
- Bituricis vervex, Heduis dat sucula signum.
- Laniger huic signum sus est, animálque biforme, Acribus
hinc setis, lanitio inde levi.
- The Meaning and Symbolism of the Hunting Scenes in
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
External links