The Japanese boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax), also known as the white-moustached pig,[2] nihon-inoshishi (ニホンイノシシ),[3] or yama kujira (山鯨, lit. "mountain whale"),[3] is a subspecies of wild boar native to all of Japan, apart for Hokkaido and the Ryukyu Islands.
| Japanese boar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| S. s. leucomystax, Tama zoo | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Suidae |
| Genus: | Sus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | S. s. leucomystax |
| Trinomial name | |
| Sus scrofa leucomystax Temminck, 1842 | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Species synonymy
| |
Taxonomy
It is a small, almost maneless, yellowish-brown subspecies[4] with distinctive white whiskers extending from the corners of the mouth to the cheeks.[2]
Predators
In many areas of Japan, humans are the only predator for wild boars. The Japanese black bear is usually herbivorous, but they can eat livestock. The omnivorous Ussuri brown bear adapted to hunt wild boars. Its former natural predator, the Japanese wolf, is believed to have gone extinct.[5] The Japan Wolf Association has been lobbying to reintroduce wolves into the country to restore the ecological balance which would curb the ballooning populations of deer and boars.[5] However, there is strong public opposition to this plan.[5]
Presence following the Fukushima nuclear disaster
After the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, wild boars descended from the mountains to towns and cities within the exclusion zone that had been temporarily evacuated.[6] A DNA analysis showed they thrived there and bred with escaped domestic pigs to form boar-pig hybrids.[6] The boars were more likely to survive in the wild compared to the domestic pigs due to hybrid vigor.[6] Over time, genes inherited from the domestic pigs will gradually disappear as hybrid pigs breed with the more numerous purebred wild boar.[6]
Culture
It features prominently in Japanese culture, where it is widely seen as a fearsome and reckless animal, to the point that several words and expressions in Japanese referring to recklessness include references to boars. The boar is the last animal of the oriental zodiac, with people born during the year of the Pig being said to embody the boar-like traits of determination and impetuosity.
Boars are also seen as symbols of fertility and prosperity. The animal's link to prosperity was illustrated by its inclusion on the ¥10 note during the Meiji period, and it was once believed that a man could become wealthy by keeping a clump of boar hair in his wallet.[7]
It is a popular subject among netsuke sculptors, and is mentioned in Kojiki (711-712), the oldest extant Japanese chronicle. The boar also features in Japanese poetry, having first appeared in the works of Yamabe no Akahito.[3] Its importance in the Japanese diet was such that it was exempt from Emperor Tenmu's ban on meat-eating in 675.[8]
References
External links
Media related to Sus scrofa leucomystax at Wikimedia Commons
