Rare Visayan Warty Pigs Born
at San Diego Zoo
A four-week-old Visayan warty pig appears to pose for the camera under the watchful eye of its mother at the San Diego Zoo. The piglet, one of two born on June 26, is still nursing from its mother and is just beginning to eat solid foods of vegetables and fruits. Keepers describe the piglet, whose gender is yet to be determined, as extremely energetic and curious. It can be seen running, jumping, playing and eating throughout the day with its sounder, or pig family, consisting of its littermate, mother, father and two other adult females, in its habitat in the Zoo’s Panda Canyon.
Visayan warty pigs, endemic to the Visayan Islands in the central Philippines, are a critically endangered species due to loss of habitat, illegal hunting and hybridization. In 1992, the San Diego Zoo partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines to create the Visayan Warty Pig Conservation Programme. Eighty piglets have been born at the San Diego Zoo since a founder group arrived in 2002.
To honor those who devote their lives to animal care and conservation, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, along with zoos nationwide, are celebrating National Zoo Keeper Week July 20 through 26. There are more than 6,000 zoo keepers across the U.S. who care for animals in fields that involve medical care, training, research, enrichment and education. San Diego Zoo Global salutes the animal care professionals who contribute to wildlife care and help increase public awareness about the need to preserve habitats and the creatures that inhabit them.
Photo taken on July 24, 2014, by Tammy Spratt, San Diego Zoo
###
PERMITTED USE: Images are provided to the media solely for reproduction, public display, and distribution in a professional journalistic context in connection with newspaper, magazine, broadcast media (radio, television) or Internet media (ad enabled blog, webcasts, webinars, podcasts). Images may not be made available for public or commercial download, licensing or sale.
REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: All image uses must bear the copyright notice and be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as shown in this metadata, and must be accompanied by a caption that makes reference to the Visayan warty pigs. Any uses in which the image appears without proper copyright notice, photographer credit and a caption referencing the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are subject to paid licensing.