It's amazing to see a wild boar swimming smoothly across the Yangtze River! How do "swimming champions" develop their fighting power?

In the past two days, a video of a wild boar in Nanjing taking 12 minutes to cross the Yangtze River has become popular. Netizens are hotly discussing: "Wild boar turns into a porpoise after entering the water" and "Marshal Tianpeng is amazing." Coincidentally, a netizen in Anhui also recently filmed a wild boar crossing the Yangtze River. In fact, the excellent swimming performance of wild boars just reflects their super survival and adaptability in nature.

Wearing "soft hedgehog armor", the combat power is off the charts

Wild boars, also known as mountain pigs, are a large mammal that is widely distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa and other regions. In nature, wild boars are highly adaptable animals with unique characteristics in terms of body structure, diet, environmental adaptability, fertility, behavioral characteristics, etc.

Wild boars are stout and can weigh more than 100 kilograms. They have strong shoulder and neck muscles, short and strong limbs, are very good at running and short-distance sprinting, and have great endurance. Wild boars have thick skin and flesh, and their body is covered with hard bristles.

Wild boars also have a peculiar habit of rubbing their skin against tree trunks, which makes their skin harder, like wearing a "soft armor", giving them strong defense in the wild. In addition, the two external auricles of wild boars are large, and their hearing is very good, allowing them to detect enemies in time.

With its strong physique, great brute force and defensive power, plus its sharp fangs, even tigers, lions and bears have to stay away from it. There is a saying that goes "one pig, two bears and three tigers", which shows how ferocious wild boars are.

It is not picky about meat or vegetables, and has produced more than 100 offspring in its lifetime.

Wild boars are typical omnivorous animals. In the natural environment, they can choose a wide range of food. They are not picky about meat or vegetables. They can eat roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of plants, as well as large fungi, insects, aquatic animals, small mammals and birds. They will hardly let go of anything edible, and will even pick up animal carcasses.

In addition, the wild boar has a long snout and a very sensitive sense of smell, which allows it to smell food buried in the soil. The wild boar's snout has well-developed muscles, and with its well-developed tusks, it can dig out food such as plant roots buried underground. Therefore, it can eat food that other animals cannot. In seasons when food is scarce, wild boars will also expand their range of activities or increase their foraging time to obtain enough food. This wide range of food selection and foraging ability enables wild boars to find enough food in various environmental conditions, thereby enhancing their adaptability.

Wild boars have a strong ability to adapt to the environment. They can be found from the cold Arctic region to the hot desert, from semi-arid climates to tropical rainforests, and from mountains to plains. Wild boars can adjust their behavior and habits according to environmental changes to maximize the use of resources.

Wild boars have a very strong reproductive capacity. They can give birth to 1-2 litters a year, with 4-12 piglets in each litter. The piglets have a survival rate of over 90% and grow very fast. Female wild boars can reproduce at the age of one, and their lifespan can be as long as 15-20 years. Therefore, a female wild boar can give birth to more than 100 offspring in its lifetime. This strong reproductive capacity allows the wild boar population to adapt to environmental changes in a short period of time, allowing their population to grow rapidly.

Strict social hierarchy, clear division of labor and mutual cooperation

As a social animal, wild boars form small groups in the wild, consisting of one to several adult female wild boars and their offspring. Male wild boars mostly act alone, but sometimes join the group. There is a strict social hierarchy among group members, with clear division of labor, mutual cooperation, and together they search for food and resist the invasion of foreign enemies. Wild boars are also very territorial, and often use urine, feces, etc. to mark their territory. If they find an enemy, they will quickly flee or adopt an aggressive self-defense strategy.

Pigs are often considered lazy animals by humans, but wild boars are not. They are active day and night and have a large range. When food is scarce, wild boars will migrate long distances in order to find enough food. In the winter when food is scarce, wild boars wander around, and they often break into parks, green spaces, wastelands, farmlands and other places in the suburbs of cities to find food. They climb mountains and wade through water. It is also common for them to swim in large rivers and other wide waters. It is not surprising that the wild boars reported this time easily and quickly crossed the Yangtze River.

With their strong reproductive capacity and ability to adapt to the environment, wild boars have increased rapidly in number as their natural enemies have been reduced, and the ecosystem has been restored and protected. They have become rampant in some parts of my country, and some areas regard wild boars as pests. Wild boars have been removed from the latest list of "terrestrial wild animals with important ecological, scientific and social value under national protection".

However, as an important link in the food chain, wild boars play an important role in the natural ecosystem and still exert their unique ecological functions.

(The author is deputy director of the Beijing Biodiversity Conservation Research Center)