„6 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



Indian Wild Leaving the chevrotains, we come to the Indian wild boar (Sus 



Boar. cristatus), which is found in the Himalaya up to heights of 13,000 

 feet, and ranges southwards into Ceylon and south-eastwards into Burma. In 

 shoulder-height the boar measures up to 40 inches or more, and the total length is 

 about 5 feet. Some are even larger, the males being always larger than the 

 females. Along the back runs a crest of long black bristles, the hair is coarse and 

 bristly everywhere, has no under-fur, but is thinner at the sides, and thinnest 

 below. The sparsely-haired tail reaches almost to the hocks, and is fringed at the 

 sides ; the ears are thinly haired on the outside and more closely inside ; the general 

 colour is black, mixed more or less with rusty brown or white. Old individuals 

 are grey, younger ones brown, and the sucklings show dark brown stripes along 

 their light brown bodies. 



The Indian wild boar is distinguished from its European relative by its longer 

 tusks (which are said to grow as long as 12 inches, although rarely exceeding 

 9 inches), the longer crest and the thinner hair on the rest of the body ; it attains a 

 large stature. Not improbably it is the ancestor of Indian domesticated swine, 

 with which it doubtless sometimes pairs since the young of the latter are sometimes 

 striped. 



During the day the Indian wild boar remains concealed in high grass or 

 bushes, sometimes in the forest or in tall standing crops. The sows and young 

 generally associate in " sounders " of ten to twelve or more, but the full-grown boars 

 live by themselves. They wander about to feed in the morning and evening, 

 especially in marshes, their favourite food being roots, in search of which they turn 

 up the ground in a way similar to the European wild boar, doing much harm to 

 cultivated fields. Their food is, however, not confined to vegetable matter, for 

 more than once they have been seen to eat carcases, and in Assam they dig out 

 and eat the fish which spend the dry season in the mud. 



The Indian wild boar often feeds at night, but in districts where it is un- 

 molested its life is less nocturnal. Its speed is considerable, but does not last, and 

 on fairly even ground both boar and sow may be easily overtaken by a good 

 horse. Wild boar-hunting, universally known as "pig-sticking," is one of the most 

 popular of Indian sports. This sport owes much of its excitement to the boldness 

 with which the boar defends himself to the last, the badgered animal, although 

 surrounded by spears, attacking his adversaries again and again. Undoubtedly 

 the boar is the most courageous of the wild animals of India. There are many 

 anecdotes of desperate fights between wild boars and tigers, and in several instances 

 the tiger is killed by the boar. A boar will even attack and kill a camel ; and 

 instances are on record of this animal charging elephants. The courage of the 

 boar appears, however, to vary to a considerable extent in different parts of India, as 

 indeed is the case with its bodily size and shape. 



A very different animal is the pigmy hog (S. salvanius), of the 

 forests at the foot of the eastern Himalaya, which stands only 

 11 inches at the shoulder, with a length of 26 inches. Unlike the last species, it 

 has no distinct mane, and in general colour is brown or blackish brown. The 

 young are white below with whitish stripes along the back and sides. In habits 

 this diminutive representative of the pig tribe resembles the wild boar, being 



