Migrant settlers settling and engaging in slash-and-burn farmin in the forested areas of Palawan had a hard time with the wild pigs (local name: baboy damo) feeding on and destroying their cassava crops in the process. To prevent further damage, the farmer settlers devised “pig bombs” made of gunpowder-laden ping-pong balls. The pig bombs were buried underneath the roots of the cassava plant, at places where the wild pigs will most likely scour the soil with their tough snouts. When the wild pigs get to the ping-pong balls and bite on it, the home-made bomb explodes thereby killing the beast instantly. I was once in living near a forested area and I could hear sporadic explosions from cassava plantations. A little while after that, a local folk brings wild pig meat for sale.
This practice among farmers in the hinterlands decimated a large number of the bearded pigs. The population of these once abundant mammals gradually declined.
Physical Characteristics
The local people of San Rafael, a barangay north of Puerto Princesa, domesticate the wild bearded pigs. The picture above was taken from tha place where a wild bearded pig was tied around a post just like any ordinary pig. Indeed, the bearded pig looks like an ordinary pig. However, notably, it has a long snout and thin body.
The bearded pigs look like ordinary pigs except that they have a greatly elongated snout and long canines. Bearded pigs appear “bearded” because they have very large coarse hairs forming a white band around mid-snout making an impression of a beard. Thick growths of black hair form the mane impressing a wild look. The ears stand small with black, fine hair at the tip and almost bare at the base. The body hairs of the bearded pigs are generally blackish.
Habitat
Bearded pigs usually inhabit primary and secondary forests or the bushes. Largely nocturnal in its habits, the bearded pigs are difficult to notice unless disturbed.
Food
Before the farmers came and settled in their habitat, the wild bearded pigs fed on fruits of wild figs and other trees found in the forest. But since their feeding areas were converted into farmlands, they started to feed on cassava and other rootcrops, corn and sweet potato. Thus, they became "pests" to the farmers.
Threats
Migrant settlers cultivating cassava, corn, sweet potato and even rice find themselves competing with the wild pigs in harvesting their crops. The pigs will have to be shooed away from the plantations to prevent destruction from their burrowing and feeding activities. Some farmers just shoot the wild pigs.
For those farmers who could not find the time to regularly monitor their farms, the pig bombs became a common resort. Farmers slit up ping-pong balls, load then seal gunpowder in it. The bombs were buried under the soil near stands of crops in most likely places where the wild pigs will burrow.
Also, the wild, bearded pigs are a traditional source of meat for the native people of Palawan.
Ecological Status
Known locally in Palawan, Philippines as “baboy damo”, the bearded pig is endemic and common.
Reference
Rabor, D. S, 1986. Guide to Philippine Flora and Fauna: Birds and Mammals. Natural Resource Management Center, Ministry of Natural Resources and University of the Philippines.
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