General Characteristics

Body Length: 90-190 cm / 3-6.3 ft.
Shoulder Height: 70-90 cm / 2.3-3 ft.
Weight: 35-150 kg / 77-330 lb.

The colouration varies from reddish-yellow to black, with the yellowish underparts being sharply demarcated.  Piglets are born with very faint stripes, which they lose very quickly.  A long-haired mane covers the nape of the neck, extending as a thinner trail along the spine to the rump.  There is marked sexual dimorphism in terms of body size in adults, with males being more than twice the weight of females.  The slender legs are elongated, as is the flat-backed body, while the tail is long and simply tufted.  The head, slightly convex in profile, is large and elongated, with large ears.  There are three pairs of warts on the face, of which the preorbital ones remain small in adults.  These warts have a large variation in size between individuals, though they are not as pronounced in females.

Ontogeny and Reproduction

Gestation Period: About 4 months
Young per Birth: 3-9
Life span: 14 years

Most births occur in the rainy season from January to March, in a large nest made by the female out of leaf litter.

Ecology and Behavior

When threatened, the Javan warty pig raises the long hairs which form the mane on its back, increasing its apparent size.  The tail is carried in an erect curve while fleeing.  The alarm call is a shrill whistle.  Due to the fragmented nature of its habitat (due to human civilizations and agricultural areas), it is feared that wild populations of the Javan warty pig may suffer from inbreeding or crossbreeding with the sympatric wild boar.  Only a few captive breeding colonies are known, all in zoos on Eastern Java.

Family group: Small groups made of a sow and her current young, adult males usually solitary.
Diet: Vegetation, including human crops.
Main Predators: Tiger (now extinct), dhole, leopard, humans.

Distribution

Secondary forests (predominantly teak) below 800 m / 2640 ft. on the Indonesian islands of Java, Bawean, and Madura (although possibly extinct on the latter).