Monday, July 5, 2010

Animal Facts - White Lipped Peccary

By Marina K. Villatoro

White lipped Peccaries are the big and aggressive brothers of the collared peccary. They have even killed jaguars when trying to defend themselves. That is why white lipped peccaries are considered as the most dangerous peccary. This species typically prefers dense, humid tropical forest, usually with primary growth, although their habitat also includes dry savannas and tropical dry forests. They live in Central and South America.

The pelage of the white-lipped peccary is an overall dark reddish-brown or black. A curious thing is that each and every hair has two different tones: light at the base, and then dark. It is an omnivorous animal because it feeds on fruits, roots, tubers, palm nuts, grasses and some invertebrates. The average length of these animals is reported to be: body length, somewhere between 90 and 140 cm, shoulder height 40-60 cm, and body weight 25-40 kg. The maximum a white lipped peccary has lived is 13 years.

It is also a social animal. It is known that they live in large herds of 50 to 300+ individuals, though there have been reported sightings of up to 2,000 individuals. Studies have shown that a herd can cover about 10 km per day. With such a large number of herd members, it is necessary for white lipped peccaries to constantly move in order to obtain enough food. The white-lipped peccary is a diurnal mammal.

156 to 162 days is the gestation period of white lipped peccaries. When it comes to babies the great majority of births are twins. There are weird cases of single or triples births. The white lipped peccary doesn't have a specific breeding season. They breed throughout the year.

Although not immediately endangered it is threatened by deforestation and increased hunting pressure. This species is economically important, and one of the principal species for neo-tropical hunters.

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