engleski

Age and body weight as limiting factors on wild boar reproductive traits

Evaluation of the current reproductive performance of wild boar populations is necessary due to recent population increases throughout Europe. This study was conducted in three different regions of Croatia over a 7-year period (2006-2012) during regular drive hunts. A total of 468 pregnant females and 2.819 fetuses were analyzed. The age distribution indicated a relatively young population: 62% of the examined animals were younger than 24 months, and nearly 65% of juvenile females were pregnant. The mean number of fetuses was 6.02 per animal (4.62 per juvenile, 6.39 per yearling and 6.77 per adult). A Friedman test determined the most significant difference in the number of fetuses between age groups (χ2=96.448 ; d.f.=2 ; P<0.01). The mean live body weight was 40.90 kg for the juvenile class, 68.76 kg for the yearling class and 88.73 kg for the adult class. The number of fetuses correlated positively with live body weight (r=0.533 ; P<0.001) ; however, the strength of correlation increased up to 85 kg (r=0.580 ; p<0.01) and then began to decrease. The number of active/extended teats varied between 3 and 12, but the mean number was 6.96. The reproductive parameters observed in our study reflect a relatively high reproductive capacity compared to the populations in southern and northern Europe, but are comparable with some populations in central Europe. More generally, the results documented the reproductive performance of the species, and drew attention to the importance of designing better plans for sustainable wild boar management.

Sus scrofa; fetuses; teats; Croatia

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