Babirusa with tusks.

Babirusa

Pigs with crazy tusks
Type
giant panda

Mammals

Area
Map highlighting Indonesia
Indonesia
Endangered Status

Threatened

facts

size
up to 3 feet
length
An average soccer ball is 8.65 inches tall.
babirusa compared in size to a soccer ball.
food
plants, meat,
and more
Omnivore
omnivore

Babirusas will eat almost anything, including leaves, fruit, berries, nuts, bark, insects, fish, and small mammals.

habitat
rainforest
Wetlands
rainforest habitat

description

A pair of babirusa with faces pressed together.

description

Meet the "pig deer"

Two tusks grow out of every adult babirusa's lower jaw, and two more tusks grow right through the upper part of the adult male's snout—looking something like misplaced, miniature antlers. It's no wonder this wild swine species' name means "pig deer" in the Malay language of Indonesia.

Babirusa mother with two piglets.

At home in a swamp

Wetlands or swamps within the rainforests of Indonesia's islands of Sulawesi, Togian, Sula, and Buru are home to babirusas—and they are found nowhere else in the world.

Babirusa piglet rooting through dirt.

Snouts aren't just for smelling

Babirusas can sometimes be seen kneeling, with their chest on the ground, as they use their strong snouts to root through dirt and sand like a plow. This is believed to be one way they mark an area with their own scent.

Male babirusas use their unusual tusks to compete with other males for mates, however they also spar by standing on their hind legs and "boxing" each other with their front hooves.