User:Mizert

THIS IS A UNIVERSITY PROJECT. PLEASE, DO NOT EDIT THIS PAGE.

Activity and care rituals
Representatives of the species Hylochoerus meinertzhageni are usually nocturnal (active from dusk to midnight) due to high temperaturesin the areas where they live. Sometimes, when the temperatures become lower and they are not stressed by humans their activity time may change into diurnal. After their time of activity, herds rest together in their shared lairs (hollows in the ground covered with grass, dry leaves and branches). This provides the animals with thermal comfort and allows them to groom each other's skin (they rub each other's backs and napes with their snouts before falling asleep). Hogs also care for their own skin by taking baths in mud, rolling around in sand, moist soil, remains of decaying plants, or by dragging their hindquarters on the ground. Males rub against tree trunks, stones and other objects in order to mark their territory. This period of self-grooming lasts for up to 40 minutes.

Food and nutrition
As most of the Suidae family species, representants of Hylochoerus meinertzhageni species can eat a variety of food. Forest hogs are mainly herbivore, their diet is based on grasses (mainly Poaceae, carex) and herbaceous plants. However, if they have an opportunity, they can also eat carrion. They rarely root in order to find food. Forest hogs also lick tree trunks inhabited by termites. They use their incisor and massive canines to make holes in trunks. By licking them, they get essential mineral salts.

Social behavior
Similary to all the other representants of Suidae family, Hylochoerus meinertzhageni live in groups. Forest hogs gather in herds consisting of 4 to 20 related individuals: females, their piglets and usually one older male which leads the group. Sometimes an old female can become the leader. Males usually live alone. Youngsters live in groups of up to 30 individuals. When several herds gather together on a shared feeding ground, they might form single large group. Forest hogs lead a nomadic life. They usually locomote by walking or trotting. Forest hogs rarely gallop, however they are able to jump if nescessary. They use different voice signals for a number of purposes: to communicate, while mating, searching for food, to alarm or warn their herd members, while fighting, etc. Empathy among members of a herd may sometimes be displayed. An incident has been recorded in Uganda where a hog was injured with a spear and got stuck in a hole in the ground. Other hogs tried to rescue an injured animal, by giving voice signals to call help and attempted to assist the injured animal to get up and get out of the hole. Natural enemies of the giant forest hog include large predators and humans. Hogs can be aggressive and may attack their opponent without warning. Sometimes forest hogs ravage settlements of local Shambats causing considerable devastation. Generally forest hogs generally are easy to tame which offers a perspective for future domestication of the species.

Reproduction
Males sometimes fight for females' or territory. After displaying their attributes of aggression (sizes of canines, head and ears bristles) they start fighting by bumping each other's foreheads. Fights are often brutal and often result in broken bones, sometimes even death. Each fight lasts around 30 minutes. Some forest hogs probably pair for longer periods. The gestation period lasts around 185 days. Females deliver from 2 to 6 offspring in a single litter and usually give birth to one litter per year. Before labor female leaves the herd to prepare a lair (up to 4 m in diameter) by digging a hollow in the ground and covering it with vegetation in order to protect offspring form moisture, wind and cold. Contrary to some other species of Suidae family, females do not lick their offspring after giving a birth. Females of one herd may adopt the offspring of other females.