A wild boar is caught on a motion-sensor camera in a protected area of Mondulkiri province in December last year. NETH PHEAKTRA VIA FACEBOOK
Ministry of Environment officials and conservation NGOs estimate that there are more than 5,000 wild boars present in three wildlife sanctuaries in Mondulkiri and Oddar Meanchey province.
Environment ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said on November 6 that Cambodia had a moderately sized population of wild boars because of their high fertility rate and that wild boars were present almost everywhere in Cambodia and throughout much of the world with a conservation status of “least concern”.
Pheaktra noted that there was no clear data on how many wild boars there were globally, but it is estimated to be a large and stable population and present in all of Cambodia’s natural protected areas.
“According to a study by the ministry and Wildlife Conservation Society [WCS Cambodia] and World Wildlife Fund [WWF Cambodia] released in 2020, the Keo Seima and Phnom Prech wildlife sanctuaries in Mondulkiri province have around 1,160 and 1,848 wild boars respectively.
“There are also approximately 2,170 wild boars in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondolkiri province.
“In other natural protected areas, it is noted that the presence of wild boars has increased because of the effective protection of wildlife and the conservation efforts in those areas, which provide better habitats as well as abundant food and water sources,” Pheaktra said.
Wild boar are a species of wild pig, though all pigs – both wild and domesticated – are able to interbreed which complicates classifying them. The male wild boar has a straight tail that points upwards while the female has a tail that points towards the ground.
They are intelligent animals that rely heavily on their senses of smell and hearing, which are particularly acute, while their vision is generally extremely poor due to their small-sized eyes. They have a pair of fangs that grow into sharp tusks that sometimes bend downwards in a circle and are useful as a weapon for self-defence or for digging in the ground.
The reproductive season for wild boars begins in November. The female wild boar gives birth to a litter of four to eight piglets after five months of gestation. It can sometimes give birth to up to 15 piglets in a year with two litters and the offspring breastfeed from their mother for three to four months. Female wild boars can reproduce from six to seven months of age and the lifespan of a wild boar is 10 to 12 years generally though some live up to 20 years.
