Species account by Wren Garrison, of University of Vermont
This species highlight is focused on the collared peccary. It is regionally referred to as the javelina, but its scientific name is Pecari tajacu. Javelinas are pig-like, with large heads and shoulders, small hindquarters, and grizzled, bristly hairs that are erectable into a mane. However, despite their resemblance to pigs at first glance, javelinas are actually in their own family classification of Tayassuidae and are unable to produce fertile offspring with pigs. Javelinas, or collared peccaries, have 1 to 1.5 inch-long tusks, 2 inch long tails, and can grow to about 2 feet tall, 3 feet long at a weight of 30-65 pounds. The adults are brown and have white/yellow irregular collars, but juveniles are brown with a black stripe down their back. They have a musk gland that is used as an alarm call along with a barking cough noise – however, the musk gland is unique because it is also used as a bonding mechanism and they rub the scent on trees and rocks to notify their squadron (group of collared peccaries) that they are in the area. Another social bonding tactic used by javelinas is reciprocal grooming, when two individuals groom each other at the same time.
Javelina squadron hierarchies consist of 6-30 individuals with one dominant male, who mates with the female in heat, while the non-dominant males defend the group. Non-dominant males only get to mate when there are multiple females within the squadron in heat simultaneously. Javelinas can breed year-round, but most births are in summer after a gestation period of about 5 months. They have 2-6 young per birth, and if a pregnancy fails then a second litter in the same year is possible. A javelina’s lifespan is 15-20 years.
Collared peccaries were once found as far north as Arkansas but have been extirpated (locally/regionally extinct) by hunting to a northernmost limit of SW Arizona, SE and SW New Mexico, and SW Texas, with the rest of their range extending all the way down to Argentina. The hunting of javelinas is seasonally limited and by permit only but still occurs in the United States. Their habitat consists of brushy desert, rocky canyons, and wastelands up to an elevation of 6,000 feet (1,800 meters). Javelinas are the most active at twilight/night in the summer but tend to be more diurnal (active at day and night) during the winter months when it is a little cooler during the sunlight hours. In the winter, they bed in rooted holes or caves and may huddle for warmth. Signs of collared peccaries are rooted ground, chewed cactus and low vegetation, and tracks, which are small, cloven, rounded oblongs 0.75 to 1.5 inches long. Their hindprints are smaller than their foreprints and they have 6 to 10 inch-long strides. Their scat is large and irregular, flattened disks.
Next time you find yourself along the southwestern US border, keep an eye out for their signs or rustling in the brush! You may just find yourself a squadron of javelinas/collared peccaries!
Cover photo credits: McKinnell, Anne. Anne McKinnell Photography, 13 Mar. 2019, annemckinnell.com/2019/03/13/a-squadron-of-javelinas/.