What Is a Javelina? The Americas’ Not-Quite-Pig

Javelinas look like little wild pigs, but the truth is more interesting. Here’s how the collared peccary fits into the American outdoors.

When European explorers first came to the New World, they encountered plenty of strange and wondrous creatures they had never seen before. They also found animals that looked familiar enough to invite comparison, including elk, which reminded them of Old World deer, and a smaller, pig-like animal that looked something like a wild boar.

That second comparison was close, but not quite right.

So, what is a javelina? The short answer is that it’s a collared peccary: a pig-like hoofed mammal native to the Americas. It looks enough like a small wild pig to fool plenty of people, but the family tree tells a more interesting story.

What Is a Javelina?

Once more commonly called the collared peccary, the little pig-like creature of the New World is now widely known as the javelina.

a group of javelina, including one resting in the dirt, in the wild — *Javelinas look a lot like wild pigs, but they belong to the peccary family, not the true pig family.*

Taxonomically, they belong to the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. That broad group also includes pigs, deer, cattle and sheep. The important split comes farther down the line. True pigs belong to the family Suidae, while peccaries belong to the family Tayassuidae.

In other words, javelinas resemble pigs, and they are related to pigs, but they are not true pigs.

Why They Aren’t True Pigs

The similarities are easy to see. Javelinas have a snout that ends in a cartilaginous disc, relatively small eyes and a stocky, pig-like build. Like pigs, they also walk on the middle two digits of each foot.

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The differences are just as important. Javelinas have a more complex digestive system than true pigs and are foregut fermenters, which helps them process tough plant material.

That digestive approach creates a loose comparison to deer and other ruminants, but the relationship is distant. It’s better understood as an example of convergent evolution, where animals from different lineages develop similar traits.

Their canine teeth are different, too. In true pigs, the tusks tend to be longer and curved. A javelina’s tusks are short and straight. It was once commonly assumed those javelin-like teeth gave the animal its name, but “javelina” comes from a Spanish word tied to wild boar.

Those small tusks still deserve respect. Javelinas are generally shy and skittish, and they usually avoid people. When cornered or threatened, however, they can charge and cut with those sharp canine teeth. A warning often comes first in the form of a chattering sound made by rubbing the tusks together.

a javelina in a field amongst whitetailed deer — *Javelinas share habitat with other game animals and are most often considered targets of opportunity for hunters in pursuit of something else.*

Where They Live

In the United States, javelinas are mostly a Southwestern animal, with populations in places such as Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. South of the border, the range of the collared peccary and its peccary cousins extends through much of Central America and into South America.

Javelinas are well suited to semi-arid shrublands, desert country, chaparral and brushy habitat, but they’re not opposed to life near people. In some urban and suburban areas, they fill a scavenger role similar to raccoons, rooting around for food and taking advantage of easy meals.

How Javelina Squadrons Behave

Like pigs, javelinas usually travel in groups. Those extended family groups are often called squadrons.

They’re not nearly as prolific as feral hogs or domestic pigs. Average litters are small, often around two young, which helps explain why many javelina squadrons are modest in size. In the warm climates they inhabit, however, javelinas can breed and give birth throughout the year.

Javelinas are also known as skunk pigs, a nickname tied to the strong scent glands on their backs. They use that odor to mark territory and recognize other members of the squadron. That smell is part of what gives javelinas their distinctive reputation.

a hunter poses with a javelina he took with a compound bow — *The author shot this javelina during a texas bowhunt for whitetails.*

Hunting Javelina and Handling the Meat

Where they occur, javelinas are managed as game animals, though seasons, bag limits and legal methods vary by state and area. Some hunters pursue them specifically, using methods such as still-hunting, spot-and-stalk or ambush setups. Others take them as targets of opportunity while hunting deer or other game.

Javelinas also have a reputation as poor table fare, but much of that comes down to handling. The scent gland on the back should be avoided or removed carefully during processing. Do that cleanly, and javelina meat can be far better than its skunk-pig nickname suggests.