AnimalsThe wild boar is the ancestor of the farm pig. It has a bristly coat and a long snout for rooting in the soil. Males have sharp tusks. Piglets are striped.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Sus scrofa
- Group
- Mammals
- Diet
- Omnivore (eats plants and animals)
- Lives in
- Europe, Asia and North Africa
- Habitat
- Forests, scrub and farmland
- A young one is called
- piglet
- A group is called
- sounder
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Artiodactyla
- Family Suidae
- Genus Sus
- Species Sus scrofa
Other members of the family Suidae on this site: pig.
More distant relatives in the order Artiodactyla: Bactrian camel, blackbuck, chital, cow, dromedary camel, gaur, giraffe, goat, hippopotamus, moose, nilgai, reindeer.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The wild boar is listed as Least Concern. The species is widespread or numerous enough that it is not considered at risk of extinction at present.
This is the IUCN Red List category as recorded in Wikidata on 11 November 2026. The IUCN Red List itself is the authority and may carry a newer assessment. What the categories mean.