Formosan Wild Boar: First Encounters In 15 Years
Posted by: Loren Coleman on January 12th, 2007
The Formosan wild boar’s distinctive nostril stripe is clearly seen in this photograph.
The China Post is reporting on January 12, 2007, that Formosan wild boar nests have been sighted in northern Taiwan, during the past two months. The Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) reported yesterday that these incidents marked the “first sightings” in 15 years. (The news release is unclear if they are talking about just nest sightings or the actual animals also being seen.
The sightings near the Fu-Shan Research Station in Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan, marked the first time for such events by TFRI officials since the TFRI closed the research station in 1991 to allow the environment to regenerate, the officials said.
The Formosan wild boar (Sus scrofa taivanus) has a nose and lips which project forward, longer than a pig. They look brown-striped or spotted when young, becoming iron gray after maturity. They have a large head, small ears, a long snout flanked by a white stripe along each side, and two sharp and narrow tusks growing from the tip of their snout. The tusks on males are more protruding than on females.
The Formosan wild boar is omnivorous and migratory, moving to lower elevation areas when winter comes. As they do not have sweat glands, the boars will often roll themselves in muddy wetlands near mountain streams to keep cool and get rid of parasites (mostly worms).
In general, research in the last two years indicated a population that has not increased, but the TFRI’s announcement caused some positive sense that the species is not in decline.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
TERRIFIC NEWS!
This gives me great hope for the continued existance of the Formosan Clouded Leopard!