Behavioural patterns of free roaming wild boar in a spatiotemporal context

Abstract

Although the almost worldwide distributed wild boar Sus scrofa is a well-studied species, little is known about the behaviour of autochthonous, free living wild boar in a spatiotemporal context which can help to better understand wild boar in conflict terms with humans and to find solutions. The use of camera traps is a favourable and non-invasive method to study them. To observe natural behaviour, 60 camera traps were placed for three months in a state forest of 17.8 km2 in the region of the Luneburg Heath in northern Germany. In this area wild boar, roe deer, red deer, wolves and humans are common. The cameras recorded 20 s length video clips when animals passed the detection zone and could be triggered again immediately afterwards. In total 38 distinct behavioural elements were observed, which were assigned to one of seven behavioural categories. The occurrence of the behavioural categories per day was evaluated to compare their frequencies and see which are more essential than others. Generalised Additive Models were used to analyse the occurrence of each behaviour in relation to habitat and activity time. The results show that essential behavioural categories like foraging behaviour, locomotion and vigilance behaviour occurred more frequently than behaviour that “just” served for the well-being of wild boar. These three behavioural categories could be observed together mostly in the night in broad-leaved forests with a herb layer of 50–100%, comfort behaviour occurred mostly at the ponds in coniferous forest. It is also observable that the behavioural categories foraging and comfort behaviour alternated several times during the night which offers the hypothesis that foraging is mostly followed by comfort behaviour. These findings pave the way towards implementing effective control strategies in the wild and animal welfare in captivity.

Zoning has little impact on the seasonal diel activity and distribution patterns of wild boar (Sus scrofa) in an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

“…The apparent seasonal aspect of this effect could indicate that human disturbances in the different management zones differ seasonally (e.g., increased human activity in the agricultural fields in the transition zone) and that wild boars adaptively respond to such differences. In our study area, as well as in other study areas across Germany (Erdtmann & Keuling, 2020; Johann, Handschuh, Linderoth, Dormann, et al, 2020; Keuling et al, 2008b), wild boar spent more than half of the day resting (Figure 5). In our study, the active time that included movement, foraging, and social interactions was positively correlated with the night length (Figure 5b (compare also Keuling et al, 2008b)), indicating that wild boar diel activity is constrained to times when it is dark (Figures 3 and 4).…”

Observation of rescue behaviour in wild boar (Sus scrofa)

“…As was discussed above, trapping represents a highly stressful situation for the entrapped wild boars that exhibited signs of distress. The rescuer female had an erected mane or arched back 53 , both being displays of intimidating or threatening behaviours 54 and acute stress response (i.e., "flight or fight") 55 . The fact that she exhibited signs of piloerection in more than half of the photos in which she was present (see Fig.…”

Preserving for the future the — once widespread but now vanishing — knowledge on traditional pig grazing in forests and marshes (Sava-Bosut floodplain, Serbia)

“…In detailed case studies conducted in semi-natural landscapes, 32-104 wild plant species were found to be foraged by wild boars [64,69], the closest to our study area [70] but identification of foraged plant species is limited by the methodologies applied (stomach and faeces analysis) [65]. Observation-based studies on behaviour and foraging (including grazing and rooting) of wild boar are scarce [71][72][73]. Observational studies on free-ranging domestic pigs are also rare and done on non-traditionally kept pigs grazing in enclosures [23,25].…”