The largest boar in the world. Description with photos and videos

", about their violent temper and ferocity. According to these legends, they seem to be huge and wild forest monsters. A How big are wild boars really? And what are the largest wild boars in the world?

The size of the largest wild boars (Sus scrofa) is estimated from the kills of hunters. the killed boar weighed 500 kilograms. That is, almost like a passenger car. But this is not the heaviest weight yet!

The fact is that wild boars live on pasture, so it is difficult for them to grow to enormous sizes. And only a few can boast of such weight as this boar. On average, wild boars weigh about 220-250 kg with a body length of 1.2-1.5 meters. Although this does not make hunting them any safer. Still, the weight of even the smallest boar is two and a half times the weight of a person!

A cross between domestic and wild boar is larger. So in 2007, in the US state of Georgia, the largest one in the United States at that time was killed. The boar, which weighed more than 350 kg, had long and terrible fangs.

Russia does not lag behind America in terms of the uniqueness of wild boars. In 2015, a businessman and hunter from Chelyabinsk killed a huge boar in the Ural forests. His height at the withers reached 1.7 m, and his weight was 535 kg. He killed him, of course, not himself, but together with other hunters whom he had to call for help. The boar was so huge that it didn’t even fit into the car, and they dragged it to the village with a cable. A stuffed animal was made from a huge boar's head. Much has been written about this boar in the world press.

Chelyabinsk boar

The world's largest domesticated boar weighs much more. A boar named Big Bill from Texas in America weighed more than one ton and was three meters long! That is, if you stood him vertically, he was as tall as a one-story house. A huge stuffed animal remained of this unique boar, forever capturing its unique dimensions.

The size of the Chinese pig Chun Chun is also impressive. The length of her body reached 2.5 m with a weight of 900 kilograms. It is curious that the owner of the pig claims that he did not even try to purposefully fatten it. It’s just that this lady was distinguished by excellent health and an excellent appetite, thanks to which she reached her impressive dimensions. Her stuffed animal is also now in the museum.

Stuffed Chinese pig Chun Chun

But this boar is not yet the largest in the world. The real giant was raised by a British farmer. This boar's name was Old Slot. And with the help of a specially selected diet and other secret measures f Ermer managed to bring the weight of the boar to six (!) tons. That is, the boar weighed as much as three cargo gazelles combined. To date, no one has managed to surpass this result.

There is even a giant sculpture dedicated to the wild boar in France. This is Eric Slezirak's boar, 9.5 meters high.

A wild boar is an animal that belongs to the pig family and the artiodactyl order. This is a wild animal living in deciduous and mixed forests. Their length usually does not exceed 1.5 meters. Boars have a dense and small body, thick hooves, an elongated head and pointed tusks.

Hunters are waiting with great interest when the hunting season opens in order to compete with each other to see who can shoot which boar. And, of course, everyone dreams of meeting the biggest boar, but everyone understands that the chances of the dream coming true are negligible.

Giant boars

But it turns out that there are exceptions to the rules. Indeed, there are people on earth who have seen with their own eyes what the world’s largest wild boars look like. This article will tell you about three of these outstanding mammals.

1. In 2011, luck smiled on a very young man, Jamisse (11 years old). He resides in Alabama (Pickensville). He managed to shoot a wild boar, the photo of which filled the World Wide Web! Its length was 3.5 meters and it weighed about 500 kilograms. This boy has been interested in hunting since early childhood and has other animals on his account, but he claims that he was simply lucky to meet such a giant;
2. A few years earlier, in 2004, another incredible story took place in the United States. Then, in the state of Georgia, hunters managed to shoot an equally amazing wild boar. He was also written about in the New York Times. Its length exceeded 3 meters and its weight was more than 300 kilograms. This is certainly not the largest boar, but it has a unique difference from others. The length of his fangs was especially striking - it reached 70 centimeters. Scientists even examined the DNA of his cells and came to the conclusion that he was raised on a farm (he would not be able to survive in the wild with such tusks) and is a cross between a domestic pig and a wild boar;
3. And the trio is completed by a boar-sculpture. Eric Slezak himself worked on its production. He devoted 11 years to making it and at the end of 1993 he completed work on the sculpture. Its cost in 2008 was 600,000 euros and it is now located in France.

The large wild boar is found in nature primarily in Africa, Asia and England, although they can also be found in Europe. Shooting him is a real success for the hunter. But this mammal is very dangerous, so hunting it is quite labor-intensive and exhausting. But professionals in their field do not lose hope! Who knows, maybe this year one of them will be able to shoot an even bigger wild boar?!

Hunting for giant boars

It’s no secret that catching a big wild boar while hunting is a huge success for both a professional shooter and an amateur. Typically, the body length of a wild boar is no more than 145 cm with a height of no more than a meter. In this case, the weight of the animal, as a rule, does not exceed one and a half centners. However, there are cases when hunters managed to catch boars weighing significantly higher than the average.

Thus, one of the most impressive wild boars caught during hunting is considered to be a cleaver weighing 350 kg killed in Turkey. A resident of forest areas, he ate exclusively plant foods, but was able to grow to such a huge size. An even larger trophy was obtained in Georgia - the wild boar killed there weighed more than 360 kg.

At the beginning of the 2000s, a truly unusual boar was killed. Its weight was 478 kg with a length of 3.5 meters. The uniqueness of the situation lay not only in the impressive size of the trophy, but also in the person of the hunter. He was an eleven-year-old resident of Alabama. The boy hunted with his father and did not miss his chance to become a record holder. It subsequently turned out that the boar’s tusks were about 30 cm, and the animal’s shoulder girth was at least two meters. It is worth noting that from the age of five, the young hunter regularly trained his shooting skills with his father.

But the largest wild boar killed during the hunt was a giant boar, killed in the fall of 2015 in the Urals. A hunter from Chelyabinsk almost died in a fight with a giant animal that suddenly jumped onto the path. The man hid behind a tree and fired two shots, the second of which pierced an artery in the animal’s neck. As it turned out later, the weight of the boar was almost 550 kg. Meanwhile, scientists are seriously concerned about the impressive size of this forest inhabitant. The population of such giants can in some way change the ecological situation in the region. A number of research institutes have already approached the hunter with a request to donate the animal’s carcass for study. Experts believe that we are talking about some kind of genetic mutation.

Of course, the above-mentioned hunters who obtained such significant trophies were not just lucky. All of them had high-quality equipment and high-quality weapons in their arsenal. A wounded animal is very dangerous and unpredictable, and if it misfires, the hunter has little chance of surviving. The most common type of boar hunting is blind hunting. In this case, it is necessary to wait for the animal in its favorite places, often focusing on droppings, broken branches, and paths made by the animal. Then it’s a matter of technique: a well-aimed shot from an ambush - and the trophy is taken. It is worth noting that wild boars have an excellent sense of smell, but experienced hunters know how to outwit the animal.

Another method of hunting wild boar is from the approach; It is known that this animal forgets about everything in the world when eating. While the boar is eating, the hunter can calmly get close to the animal and get the next trophy with a well-aimed shot. Again, it’s worth remembering the boar’s sense of smell—you need to approach against the wind.

Well, the third type of hunting is driven hunting. In this case, the hunters are divided into beaters and shooters; the first ones, accordingly, line up in a line and try to drive the animal out into the open, where “snipers” are waiting for the animal.

One way or another, first-class skills and experience do not guarantee the hunter to receive an impressive trophy. Luck in hunting always plays a significant role in success.

What the largest known wild boar in the world looks like is a question that we intend to answer in the article. Any hunter will tell you that a wild animal differs from a domestic pig not so much in its impressive size as in its ferocity. Indeed, this animal does not always manage to reach its maximum size on its natural food. And yet there are individual individuals, as well as species of wild boars that reach simply incredible sizes. Among domesticated animals, individuals of even cyclopean sizes are created through crossing.

The first animal of this species, which became widely famous throughout the world, was Big Bill. It was a boar that was obtained by crossing two breeds, namely Chinese and Polish. An amazing animal was brought to the USA. The wild boar lived in Texas until his death in 1933. The weight of this amazing boar was 1.158 tons, and it was 2.72 meters long.

When Big Bill died, his owners stuffed him. For many years it was passed down from generation to generation, but now the location of the amazing exhibit is unknown. But a photo of this incredible animal has survived. For decades it was believed to be the largest wild boar in the world, but today many other animals challenge this title.

Another boar famous for its size is Chun Chun from China. It weighed 900 kilograms, and the animal was 2.5 meters long. Unfortunately, due to its enormous size and weight, the boar did not live long - only 4 years. Now his stuffed animal can be seen in the Chinese Agricultural Museum.

Big Norma is the only pig and not a boar on this list. She weighed 1,200 tons and was 2.5 meters long, making her the largest of those listed. This American pig has already died and was not stuffed, so one can only imagine how big it was.

The largest in the world – currently

It is difficult to say which wild or domestic pig should be considered the largest among those living or living at the present time. One of the giant boars, whose size has not yet been surpassed by anyone, was Old Slot - during his lifetime he lived in Great Britain. The weight of this amazing boar reached more than 6 tons and 395 kilograms with a body length of 3.5 meters. This boar belonged to the Gloucester pig breed.

Such cyclopean dimensions have not yet been surpassed by any known boar. Unfortunately, there is no video of this amazing beast, but photos have been preserved.

Giant wild boar

Among the recent wild boars, in addition to the already mentioned Old Slot, there were also animals of enormous size. The wild boar killed in 2004 in Georgia, USA, became very famous. At the time of capture, his weight was stated to be 380 kilograms and his length was 3.5 meters. The animal, respecting its size, was nicknamed Cabzilla. Subsequently, it turned out that the dimensions were exaggerated, in particular, the weight was 360 kilograms and the length was 2.4 meters.

Another giant boar has been shot and killed in Alabama. Its weight was 480 kilograms and its length was as much as 3.5 meters. The fangs were especially long - 13 centimeters. According to the official press, the hunter who shot such a huge wild boar was an 11-year-old boy whose father taught him to hunt.

The parameters of wild animals may seem significantly smaller than those achieved by some of the domestic boars listed above. But it is necessary to take into account that they lived in the wild and ate feed that was not prepared by humans.

Such giant animals in nature are an amazing and dangerous phenomenon for a hunter who risks encountering them. The highest quality photo or even video cannot convey the sensations that a person experiences when encountering such a creature in the forest.

Huge boars in myths and legends

Wild boars have been famous since ancient times for their size, as well as their ferocity, which increased their parameters in the eyes of any hunter. Even Hercules himself, the hero of numerous myths and legends, did not escape the fate of the battle with a giant boar. The so-called Erymanthian boar remained the largest and most ferocious in the legends of the peoples of Europe until the Middle Ages.

The largest boar sculpture

The Voynich boar statue, which is in some way a tribute to similar giant animals, is very popular among tourists. You can find it in France, in the territory located between the cities of Raethel and Charleville-Mezières.

The construction of the amazing sculpture took 10 years, and its cost is estimated at 600 thousand euros. The size of the sculpture by Eric Sleziak is also impressive: 9.5 meters in height, 5 meters in width, length is 11 meters. The weight of the artificial beast is 50 tons.

A large boar is a desirable hunting trophy. It is generally accepted that the most dangerous animals are predators, but the wild boar is no less a formidable opponent. When this type of animal was distributed over a larger area, it was considered a very dangerous beast. This article will tell you about the characteristics of wild boars, the largest catches of hunters and selection records.

Features of wild boars

An artiodactyl animal belonging to the subphylum Porciniformes and the “pig” family. In another way, wild boars are called wild pigs or boars. American wild pigs are called peccaries. They are the ancestors of all domesticated pigs, but they are very different from them.

The physique of wild pigs is muscular and dense, with long limbs. The head is wedge-shaped, elongated, the ears are large and erect. Males, called cleavers, have developed fangs on the upper and lower jaws, which give them a warlike and ferocious appearance.

Thick fur covers the boar's entire body, and on its back it resembles a mane. In summer, the coat is quite sparse, and by winter it becomes denser and thicker. The fur can be of different colors: brown, gray or even black. The tail, muzzle and limbs of a wild pig are painted black. This feature is called acromelanism. Individuals from Central Asia are characterized by rusty, light-colored fur.

Piglets have a different coat color until they reach six months of age. The color of their fur consists of alternating stripes of various shades: brown, light and yellow. This allows the cubs to camouflage themselves in the area and avoid the attention of predators.

Gallery: wild and domestic boars (25 photos)

Where do wild boars live?

Wooded areas are an ideal habitat for wild pigs. They love to roll in the mud, thus cleaning their fur from pests. The following areas are considered the historical habitat of wild boars:

• Europe;
• India;
• East and Southeast Asia;
• North Africa;
• Near East;
• Asia Minor.

The wild boar is not found only in mountain and steppe regions. He also lives in the south of Siberia, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Irkutsk Region. These animals were brought to North America from Europe specifically for hunting. Australia's feral pig population is made up of feral domestic pigs that live similarly to their wild relatives.

In many lands, wild boar populations have been completely exterminated or are heading towards extinction. In the 13th century, wild pigs disappeared from England, and in the 19th century they were exterminated in Denmark. The number of wild boars had declined greatly in Russia by the 1930s. But since the 1950s, programs began to restore the population of these animals and protect their habitats.

Varieties of wild boars

The pig is the second animal, after the dog, that was domesticated by humans. There are nine species of these animals living in the wild:

Weight and size of boars

The dimensions of the animal depend on its place of residence. The smallest species of wild boar live in South India and Southeast Asia. Adults can reach a maximum weight of 45 kg. European pigs are much larger than their relatives; for example, individuals weighing 200 kg live in the Carpathians. In the lands of Eastern Europe to the Urals you can find the largest representatives of the family. Maximum weight a mature boar can reach 300 kg. Large animals can also be found in France and Italy, where individuals weighing 150-230 kg have been spotted. Average the weight for a wild boar is 80-120 kg, and the average length is 0.9-2 m. The height of the animal on average reaches 0.55-1.1 m.

Reproduction and lifespan of wild pigs

The optimal lifespan of wild boars in the natural environment is 10-12 years. At home, the animal can live up to 20 years. From November to December, the animals undergo mating season. Before the rut, cleaver boars gain a layer of fat and muscle 20-30 mm thick. This layer protects males from the fangs of competing boars vying for the female’s attention. The cleaver finds the female by the smell of marks, which she leaves with the help of gland secretions and saliva throughout her territory.

During the mating season, the male gradually loses the fat that has been accumulated and becomes covered with numerous wounds from skirmishes with other loppers. The winners collect a “harem” of 3-8 females, who bear their offspring for 115 days. The appearance of piglets usually occurs in April. The first litter may have 2-3 cubs. Subsequent pregnancies can produce from 10 to 12 piglets. When there are 2-3 days left before farrowing, the pig moves away from the main herd and digs a small hole in the ground, and then covers it with branches.

Newborn cubs weigh 0.75-1.0 kg. They remain in the "nest" with their mother for another 5-6 days. Subsequently, the family is reunited with the rest of its relatives. Milk feeding is carried out until the piglets reach the age of 3.5 months. Females reach sexual maturity after a year and a half, and males mature much later, at 5-6 years.

Boar nutrition and lifestyle

Wild pigs usually live in herds of 20-50 animals. The group is headed by a female; the loppers live to the side and join the females only during the mating season. The pigs are fed in the evening and in the morning; the rest of the time they rest. Boars have poor eyesight, but keen hearing and sense of smell, they are quite shy and cautious. The diet includes a variety of foods:

• roots, tubers and bulbs of plants;
• leaves, nuts, bush shoots, fallen fruits;
• frogs, worms, bird eggs, carrion.

If the animal does not find food, it can wander into human habitat and destroy crops and fields. Wild pigs run and swim well. They can easily swim across even a large river or lake.

Enemies of wild boars

Enemies of wild pigs almost all large predators can be considered. But the large size and dangerous fangs stop most animals from hunting wild boar. A large cleaver can easily repel a bear or a wild cat. Only young wild boars remain vulnerable to predators.

Hunting wild pigs

Most dangerous enemy for a boar is Human. A boar's head as a trophy is a dream for many hunters. Wild pig meat is also valued for its taste and benefits. The beast's bristles are used in the production of combs, brushes, shaving brushes, and artist brushes.

Hunting for wild boars usually takes place with dogs. Horse hunting is also known in forest-steppe areas. This type of entertainment is quite dangerous. The animal does not attack first, but if it is frightened or wounded, a fierce fight awaits the hunter. Females with a litter of piglets are especially aggressive.

For tourists walking in the forest, there are certain behavior rules when meeting a boar. If the boar was spotted in advance, you must leave the area as quietly as possible. When meeting an animal, you should not try to run away; a wild boar can easily catch up even with a person on a bicycle. It is necessary to climb the nearest tree as quickly as possible, even if the distance from the ground is only one meter. You should not try to scare away the animal by throwing pine cones or branches at it - this will only anger the animal, and it will continue to walk around the tree for a long time.

A knife or stun gun is useless against a boar; it can only be neutralized by a headshot from a large caliber weapon. Even experienced hunters avoid direct confrontation with a wild boar.

The largest killed wild boars

The largest wild boar in the world was shot in Russia. This happened in 2015 in the Sverdlovsk region near the village of Shokurovo. The giant boar weighed over 500 kg and was about two meters tall. The amateur hunter was lucky to kill the animal with the second shot, which hit the carotid artery; the first only angered the boar. A wounded boar poses a great danger and leaves virtually no chance for an unlucky hunter. The ban on boar hunting for several years allowed the boar to grow to such terrifying sizes. According to the rangers, about three more huge wild boars live in this area.

In 2004, a huge boar was killed by an amateur hunter in the state of Georgia. The boar had a weight of 450 kg, a body length of over three meters and fangs 70 cm long. Meat animals usually do not have such fangs. It was later found out that the American pig was the result of crossing a wild cleaver and a domestic sow. The animal was raised on a farm, from which it later escaped.

In the state of Alabama, in the United States, in 2011 there was killed another huge wild boar. The trophy was received 11 year old boy, who fired nine bullets at the beast. The press published a photo of the killed cleaver, who weighed 470 kg, with a body length of three meters. Experts studied the photo and came to the conclusion that it was faked. The actual dimensions of the boar turned out to be much more modest than the stated data.

The largest domestic pigs

In the 19th century, in the county of Cheshire in England, farmer Joseph Lawton bred an impressive boar, which was named Old Slot. It weighed over 6 tons, and reached 1.5 m in height, the length of the animal was 3 meters. The boar lived for quite a short time, but still remains the largest domestic boar.

Another famous boar, Chun Chun, was born in 1999. A Chinese farmer purchased a litter of six piglets, in which the future record holder was the frailest and smallest. The pig had to be kept indoors for better care. All the grown cubs were sold, but Chun-chun remained with the breeder - no one wanted to take him because of his small size.

A year later, the boar already weighed over 300 kg. Soon the animal became cramped in the house and had to be moved to a pen. The boar managed to live for 4 years; in 2004 he died from excessive obesity. At that time, it already weighed about 900 kg and reached a length of 2.5 m. A stuffed animal of this boar was placed in the Agricultural Museum of Liaoning Province.

Another large boar noted in the Guinness Book of Records was Big Bill. Its mass was 1157 kg, and its length reached three meters. The boar was raised by farmer Elias Butler from Tennessee. In 1933, while traveling to the World's Fair in Chicago, a wild boar broke its leg. The animal was given too high a dose of painkiller and died. The stuffed boar was shown at the circus for some time, but was then stolen.

The extensive range and good ability to adapt gave wild boars the opportunity to maintain their population. But the expansion of farmland significantly reduces the area for pigs to live and feed, which forces them to look for food in fields and gardens, causing harm to humans. Wild individuals quickly adapt to various types of protection: they bypass traps and break fences. Almost the only method of protection against them is licensed shooting, which forces pigs to change the territory of their possessions.

In many areas, a ban on shooting wild boars periodically appears, since, according to scientists, the strongest and largest individuals usually die. This leads to a weakening of the population and the appearance of weak and small pigs. Thanks to such measures, you can meet real giants in the forests.

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