The Indian boar, Sus scrofa cristatus, gets its subspecies name from the feature which sets it apart from all other wild boars.
When the bristles of an adult male’s dorsal crest are erect – and most of them are in this post’s image – he has the pig kingdom’s most spectacular mane.
You are looking at a wild animal, not a “feral pig”.
Collectively, the world’s circa sixteen wild boar subspecies are domestic pigs’ ancestors.
The Indian version is sometimes “taken” by a tiger, but is capable of killing one.
Accordingly, adult Indian boars do not rate highly on the list of tigers’ “preferred” prey.
Click here for an informative, nicely eccentric appreciation of this highly-adaptable omnivore.
According to its author, this subspecies is “neat and impressive”, but other wild pigs have outperformed it in one respect:
If you’re wondering whether the Indian wild pig might have contributed to the domestic pig gene pool, the answer is that it apparently has not.
Photo is copyright Doug Spencer, taken at 6.51 am on 06 March 2023 in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.
We enjoyed several encounters with Indian boar, of various ages and both genders…as you will see in a future, multi-image post.