Wild pigs of Sulawesi and nearby Indonesian islands, also called deer-pigs. A male’s upper tusks grow straight up through the skin of its snout and curve back toward its forehead. Babirusas are active by day and live in tropical rainforest along rivers.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
At a glance
Found inAsia
HabitatRainforest
ColoursGrey
SizeMedium
Legs4
Covered inBristles
Lives alone
Lives for10–15 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Sulawesi, the Togian and Sula islands and Buru, in Indonesia.
- What it eats
- Leaves, roots, fruit and animal material; their strong jaws crack hard nuts easily.
Did you know
Its upper tusks grow straight up through the top of its snout and curve back toward its own forehead - and can eventually pierce its own skull if never worn down.
Groups of females and young can number up to 84, while adult males mostly live alone.
Cave paintings of babirusas on Sulawesi are at least 35,400 years old.
Often confused with
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