A robust wild pig native to Europe and Asia. It uses habitats with water and dense vegetation for cover.
Adults have coarse bristly hair. Young have pale lengthwise stripes that disappear as they grow.
Researchers followed 13 adult female wild boar in an outdoor enclosure with forest and grassland in Austria. From December 2016 to January 2019, loggers placed inside the body and beneath skin on the neck and chest recorded temperature every 12 minutes.
As air temperature fell, abdominal temperature stayed near 38 °C while temperatures beneath the neck and chest skin fell. The researchers proposed that keeping the body core warm and the outer tissues cooler helps reduce heat loss.
Heart-rate data suggested a thermoneutral range of about 6–24 °C in summer and 0–7 °C in winter. The roughly 55-ha enclosure received corn once a day. Recorded air temperatures ranged from about −15.5 °C in winter to 34 °C in summer.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global
Globally, the IUCN Red List classifies the wild boar as Least Concern (LC). The assessment was dated 8 May 2018 and published in 2019; the population trend is listed as Unknown. The IUCN SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group notes local pressures including habitat destruction, hunting, and genetic mixing with free-ranging domestic pigs.