The Indian Wild Boar 



d'Orleans, the weight of which was 302 pounds. It 

 is comparatively seldom that lower tusks of the Indian 

 species, when removed from the jaw, measure more 

 than about 9 inches along the outer curve, but speci- 

 mens measuring 10, io|, 10^ inches are known ; and 

 these dimensions are exceeded by two tusks (one 

 malformed), the respective lengths of which are given 

 by their owner as I4|- and 14^ inches. 



The Indian wild boar is a taller and more scantily 

 haired animal than its European relative, but with a 

 strongly developed crest or mane of long bristles 

 running from the nape of the neck down the back ; 

 and it is also stated that the tail, which reaches nearly 

 to the hocks, is more thickly tufted at the tip. The 

 Indian species lacks the woolly under-fur commonly 

 found in the European Sus scrofa. An important 

 distinction is to be found in the greater length and 

 complexity of the last lower molar tooth in each jaw 

 of S. cristatus ; the length of this tooth generally 

 exceeding the combined length of the two molars 

 immediately in front. The general colour of the 

 coarse and bristly hair of the adult is black, more 

 or less mixed with rusty brown or whitish ; the tint 

 being browner in young, and greyer in aged individuals. 

 It may be added that there are neither a distinct whitish 

 streak on the side of the face nor warts on the head. As 

 in other wild representatives of the genus Sus^ the new- 

 born young are light yellowish-brown, marked with 

 longitudinal stripes of dark brown. Occasionally, in 

 thick forest and jungle, herds of wild pigs are met 

 with in which the general colour of the hair is brown, 

 instead of black ; but there is no evidence that this 

 difference indicates a distinct local race. 



The Indian wild boar {Sus cristatus typicus^ to give its 

 full title) is found from the Himalaya, where it ascends 

 to a considerable elevation, throughout India, Ceylon, 

 and Burma. Whether the wild swine of Baluchistan 

 and Afghanistan belong to this species, or to the 



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