The Bawean warty pig is endemic to Indonesia's Bawean island. Little is known about this mysterious pig, but the males are infamous for the three pairs of grapefruit warts on each side of their faces. New ecological and quantitative research published in PLOS ONE shows that there's something scarier than the pig's enormous warts: there are fewer than 250 mature individuals left (and between 172–377 individuals on the island). The pig's low population numbers and area of occupancy qualify the Bawean warty pig as endangered.
Unfortunately, the researchers also discovered that the pig's preferences also make it more vulnerable. For instance, the pigs prefer to forage near community-owned forests and the borders of protected forest areas. These foraging preferences expose the endangered pigs to human conflict. And when the pigs go near non-protected areas, they are vulnerable to small-scale illegal logging and burning. Unfortunately, because clear boundaries don't exist between protected and non-protected areas, even protected forest areas (i.e. the Bawean warty pig's habitat) are also subject to habitat loss and degradation.
Sign and share this petition urging Indonesia to better protect the Bawean warty pig -- one of the world's rarest and now endangered pig species.
Setting clear boundaries around protected forest areas, bringing in more law enforcement and cracking down on illegal logging would all give the Bawean warty pig a fighting chance at survival.
Photo Credit: Screenshot from Johanna Rode's ZGAP Clip Award 2016 - Bawean Endemics Conservation Initiative
