SREL Reprint #3818

Contact patterns in wild pigs (Sus scrofa) from GPS tracking reveal spatial and temporal dynamics of social behaviour

Jack R. McIlraith1, Stephen L. Webb2, James C. Beasley3, Peter E. Schlichting4, Sarah Chinn4,
Raoul Boughton5, and Jed A. Long1

1Department of Geography & Environment, Centre for Animals on the Move, Western University, London, ON, Canada
2Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, and Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
3Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, USA
4Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, USA
5Archbold Biological Station, Buck Island Ranch, Lake Placid, FL, USA

Abstract: Wild pig (Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758) social behaviour affects disease transmission and landscape-level population management. Recent research has incorporated analysis of social structure to better understand the risk of disease transmission in wild pigs, although the relationship between overall social structure of wild pigs remains unclear. Here, we seek to improve understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of wild pig social structure and contact rates to better inform management strategies. Using GPS tracking data, we measured home range overlap, and estimated contact rates of wild pigs at four study sites in the southern USA to identify pairwise social associations (i.e., contacts) based on synchronous movement. Contact rate was strongly associated with home range overlap, but exhibited substantial variation, especially at moderate levels of home range overlap. We found that female–female dyads had higher contact rates and longer duration phases of social association compared to female–male and male–male dyads. We found male–male dyads tended to experience social associations farther from their home range centers than female–female or female–male dyads. Social associations between wild pig dyads are highly dynamic in their spatial and temporal structure. Further, dyads with strong social associations still experience substantial time apart. Our findings highlight the challenges of predicting spatial and social associations in wild pig social pairs due to their dynamic social structure over space and time.

Keywords: social network, contact heterogeneity, animal interaction, movement ecology, wild pigs, (Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758)

SREL Reprint #3818

McIlraith, J. R., S. L. Webb, J. C. Beasley, P. E. Schlichting, S. Chinn, R. Boughton, and J. A. Long. 2025. Contact patterns in wild pigs (Sus scrofa) from GPS tracking reveal spatial and temporal dynamics of social behaviour. Canadian Journal of Zoology 103: 1-13.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).