Wild boar
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The wild boar belongs to the suidae family of the Artiodactyla order.
It is the largest mammal can be found in nature around Palestine, dark grey hair covering all of its body. The head is big and massive and at the tip of the nose there's a "disc" that is used, together with a pair of sharp tusks (in the male), to dig in the ground for food like earthworms, bulbs and roots. The young boars are striped and with a light brown and yellow colors. The wild boar is omnivorous and eats fruit, grass and leaves, bulbs and roots together with carrion, different invertebrates such as insects, mollusks and earthworms, and can even eat small mammals and reptiles. It is very common to see the activity of a wild boar by the earth turned upside down and hair left on trees and rocks. It is also common to see dry grass (green or yellow-brown) been chewed and spit by the wild boar (as an omnivore it cannot digest cellulose). The young boars are taken care of by two females, like a kindergarten of the herd, and coming across a herd like that can cause serious injury to the visitor, if the herd is being taken by surprise. The wild boar can be found in forested areas, in thick bushes and near water sources and also inside orchards and close to urban places. In cities and villages that are bordering natural areas it is common to find wild boars roaming the streets at night, scavenging for garbage. The geographical range of the species goes from western Europe all the way to Japan, including China, India and the middle-east. There's a large population also in north west Africa, along the coast of the Mediterranean and also parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.
Conservation status- least concern.
Sites: Umm at-Tut nature reserve.