One Pig, Happy Family
Posted at 3:23 pm June 19, 2009 by Nate Schierman
The San Diego Zoo is very excited to announce that Asali, a red river hog, gave birth on May 2 of this year. She had two piglets (average litters are 1 to 4 youngsters), a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the girl didn’t make it past her first day of life, but the little boy, Jabari (which means “courageous” in Swahili) is doing well and can be seen running around his exhibit with mom and dad.
Jabari had a rough start. Asali has had litters before but is not yet a reliable mother. She would not let Jabari nurse and even nipped him a couple of times. Jabari was removed from the exhibit, and thanks to the dedicated work of the nursery keepers is strong, healthy, and well on his way to becoming as imposing as his 120-pound father, Tarzan.
After being cared for by people, Jabari had to be reintroduced to his parents and to being a pig. Jabari spent his days in a holding area next to mom and dad’s exhibit, with a small screen through which to greet each other. When Jabari was deemed strong enough, the screen was removed, and we all held our breath as he shared the exhibit with mom and dad for the first time since his birth. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome! Asali and Tarzan were extremely patient as this little monster came running over, jumped on them, and nipped their face and ears. It must have been an exhausting morning for them all, because eventually, mom and dad laid down with baby nestled in between them.
Normally, red river hog piglets will nurse for the first three months of their lives; however, Asali is not allowing this. But Jabari has been trained to come into the holding area when called by keeper staff to receive his bottle of milk. Soon he will have to learn from mom and dad how to eat solid foods.
Nate Schierman is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read his previous post, Enormous Changes for Hippos.
Here’s more information about wild swine…
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Scroll to the end to leave a comment. Pinging is not allowed.
June 19th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Once again, our wonderful nursery staff has come through with flying colors! Are Jabari and his parents in the area next to the camels where the guanacos used to be before moving to the Elephand Odyssey? I’ve checked in there a couple of times, but have yet to see a hog, parental or baby. But I’ll keep looking, and I hope, Nate, that you’ll keep the blogs coming. Thank you!
June 19th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
A sentence I never envisioned typing, but true all the same: Awwwww what a cute little swine!
June 20th, 2009 at 10:20 am
thanks for the interesting post Nate! jabari is a cute little piglet. very pretty markings!! I wonder why mom wouldn’t nurse him. I see he goes to a holding area for his bottles of milk just as they did with baby frank ( the gorilla ) this system seems to work for more than one animal specie doesn’t it? I think jabari’s mom really isn’t interested in being a mom at all!! I say this because you said she wasn’t a reliable mother.
no real bond? there are human beings that are not interested in being parents! AND, some parents who should have never been parents as they are not reliable either!!! I probably should not compare the two should I? lol!!! baby jabari has keepers to go to for his nourishment and any health problems! lucky little guy I say!
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Nate is it possible that nursing is painful and there is a possible infection like what happened with Lun Lun and Xi Lan at ZA?
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Congratulations to the nursery staff on a job well done. Hopefully some day Asali will allow her piglets to nurse. Any idea if there is a medical issue preventing this, or she just doesn’t like the sensation (as happens with some humans too).
I am sure the research into why mothers reject their young in all species is fascinating, albeit sometimes sad.
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:41 am
Shirley: There IS a red river hog in the old guanaco exhibit, but Jabari and family are down the hill from the pandas.
I don’t have an answer to why Asali is not a good mother. I don’t think there is a medical issue. Animals that have multiple litters throughout their lifetime sometimes work with a learning curve. The first birth shocks them, and they’ll sometimes hurt or kill the young. And then each successive time gets a little better. And, as Nancy said, some animals are just better at it than others. Luckily, in a zoo environment, we can intercede and help the youngster to reach adulthood.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
he/she is really cute!!!!!!!!
July 16th, 2009 at 11:23 am
What a cute piglet! It is always interesting to learn the social and family dynamics of different species. Hopefully Asali will continue to progress when it comes to caring for her young. These three make a cute family.
July 19th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Quick update: Jabari, now nearly 3 months old and about 30 lbs., has been successfully reintroduced to unrelated female C.T. Now all 4 pigs are living harmoniously together. Jabari is down to one milk feeding a day and will be considered fully weaned next month.
August 9th, 2009 at 8:35 am
glad to hear jabari is doing well! at what age are they considered full grown? you stated his daddy weighs a whopping 120lbs! I love the name tarzan! cute!!…….he was probably very happy to get in the same area that mom and dad were in. thank goodness they accepted him finally! animals are sometimes so funny and unpredictable. at least this outcome was a happy one!! thanks for the update!