Habitat selection by wild boar Sus scrofa L. in Alentejo, Portugal

This study was conducted in agricultural fields that are interspersed with woods. Two wild boars, an adult female and a juvenile male, were fitted with collars radio-transmitters with sensors that record activity. The female was radio-tracked for about 2 years and the male was tracked for 4 months in spring and summer. Survey routes of about 1km/100 ha were travelled once a month in one year to record signs of feeding activity, with the objective of analysing habitat use by the population. The home ranges of the radio-tagged animals confirmed that the wild boar is a sedentary species. We did detect changes throughout the year in the size and shape of home ranges, which clearly showed a seasonal pattern of space use. The wild boar population did not use the habitat randomly; rather it exhibitedg strong selectivity among the available biotopes, and a seasonal variation in habitat selectivity was observed. The wild boars behaved according to the food exploitation hypothesis, whereby the wild boars fed mainly on acorns in autumn and winter and in spring and summer strongly preferred agricultural fields. Our results appear to contradict those found in another Portuguese environment, which reflects the behavioural flexibility of the wild boar.