Pig (feral) at Majura, ACT
Identification history
| Sus scrofa | 22 Jun 2020 | DonFletcher | ||
| Sus scrofa | 22 Jun 2020 | DonFletcher | ||
| Tachyglossus aculeatus | 21 Jun 2020 | sbittinger | ||
| Unidentified | 27 Nov 2019 | sbittinger |
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User's notes
Unknown animal skin. I found this dried skin at the back of the Huey Long rest area alongside the Federal Highway between Mount Majura and Goorooyarroo. The skin is about 25 centimetres long. The hairs are quite stiff and up to 5 or 8cm long. Because I found the skin not far from the Federal Highway, it is possible that it was discarded by a passerby. I collected the skin and can give it to you if that helps with identification
4 comments
sbittinger
wrote:
21 Jun 2020
I have shown this skin to a number of people, none of whom were able to identify it. My best guess is that it is the skin from an echidna. My photos of echidnas show similar thick, long hair over the head and neck.
DonFletcher
wrote:
22 Jun 2020
Hi S Bittinger, A piece of skin from a pig seems more likely to me from its appearance, unless it is some unusual kind of very coarse-haired bristly dog, but I am petty sure it is not from an echidna. As you say, in that location it could have been discarded from a vehicle. Or could it be from remains of a roadkill?
waltraud
wrote:
22 Jun 2020
good morning Don and thanks for your suggestion. At least, I can confirm that feral pigs were observed at the northwest slope of Mt Majura several years ago; as far as I remember they were attracted to carcasses from herbivore control left on rural lease land.
sbittinger
wrote:
22 Jun 2020
Hi Don, Now that you suggest it, I agree that this piece of skin is most likely to be from the neck of a feral pig. I had not previously considered that option, but it's more likely than an echidna. I saw no other evidence of the animal or skeleton in the place where I found the skin. Sometimes when there is roadkill someone drags the dead animal well off the road -- and scavengers then distribute the remains pretty widely. It's more likely than anything else that I can think of that would fit this particular situation.
Location information
- Places Majura, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 24 Nov 2019 07:37 AM Recorded on
- sbittinger Recorded by
Species information
- Sus scrofa Scientific name
- Pig (feral) Common name
- Sensitive
- Exotic
- Minor Weed or Pest
- Up to 1945m Recorded at altitude
- 95 images trained Machine learning
