Wild boars’ social structure in the Mediterranean habitat

Abstract

Wild boar Sus scrofa has become a pest throughout Europe, but its social system in this setting is unknown, making it difficult to implement an effective management strategy. We collected data on social grouping patterns by video-trapping the population living in an Italian Mediterranean National Park. We collected over 120 days of observations and the activities of 1431 wild boars. The seasonal variations in wild boar social organisation seem to be directly related to the biological cycle, with some exceptions, such as the unexpected presence of solitary or groups of piglets. The population was more active during the summer, and the mean group size (4.14 ± 0.21) was quite similar to other European boar group sizes. We confirmed that video traps are an appropriate method to monitor versatile wildlife, especially for assessing the population structure, sex and age ratios of wild boars.