Wild Boar

Lord of the night forest

The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is one of the most adaptable and successful wild mammals on the planet. In the Asturian natural parks its presence is constant, though its discreet nature and nocturnal habits mean daytime sightings are relatively rare.

Anatomy and recognition

The adult wild boar is unmistakable: a stocky, powerful body covered in coarse dark-brown to black bristles, an elongated head with a characteristic tapered snout, and — in mature males — curved tusks that can exceed 10 cm. Piglets are born with a striped coat that camouflages them perfectly among leaf litter, fading after a few months.

Social life and the sounder

Wild boars are gregarious animals. Females live in family groups called sounders, made up of the adult female, her young of the year and often subadult females from earlier litters. Adult males lead a more solitary life, joining sounders only during the autumn rut.

Rooting: the soil sculptor

One of the boar’s most characteristic behaviours is rooting — using its reinforced snout to dig up soil in search of roots, bulbs, insects, earthworms and fungi. While this can damage grasslands and crops, it plays an important ecological role: aerating the soil and dispersing seeds.

When and where to spot them

The best times are dawn and dusk, when boars leave forest cover to feed in meadows and woodland edges. In Somiedo and Redes parks they can often be spotted from a car on rural tracks at sunset. In autumn and winter they come closer to villages as natural food becomes scarcer.