This unusual animal lives throughout the whole territory of our country. Boars live in groups of five to several dozen individuals. Boars are typically social animals, living in female-dominated sounders consisting of barren sows and mothers with young led by an old matriarch. Male boars leave their sounder at the age of 8–15 months, while females either remain with their mothers or establish new territories nearby. Sub adult males may live in loosely knit groups, while adult and elderly males tend to be solitary outside the breeding season. Boars are mainly active at dusk and in the nighttime.
Boars dig the soil, the forest floor searching for tasty roots, seeds, tubers, insect larvae, collecting acorns and fruits as well, enjoy visiting gardens with potatoes and gardens nearby villages. In terms their landscape transforming activity boar in our latitudes are almost the same as elephants in Africa. Digging and feeding activities of boars could alter the physical properties of soil and species composition of the vegetation.
It is easy to see traces of wild boars: they are itching about trunk of trees, bathed in a mud bath, rest in the bushes or in trampled lawns under trees or reeds. In winter boars in an organized manner visit so called feeding sites where employees of Forestry and Nature Protection Fund propose them corn, apples and salt.
Boars are not frequent visitors of zoos due to their love to dig around enclosure they are living in. But this species is presented in Kyiv Zoo and visitors can consider animals from a close distance.
Author of the text and photos
Maryna Shkvyria, PhD
