Red river hog or red river boar. These are the other names for the red river hog, the most colorful of the wild boar family. Its reddish fur and pointed ears, as well as the white dorsal crest that runs from head to tail, make it especially unique. As its scientific name indicates (Potamochoerus porcus), “potamos” meaning river and “khoiros” meaning pig; aptly describes the habitat preferences of this wild pig, which frequents areas where there are river courses nearby where it spends long periods of time throughout the day.

This characteristic African wild boar is the one that has just arrived at Bioparc Fuengirola. A female from the German zoo of Wuppertal joins the family at the Malaga animal park, where she will live with another female and a young male of the same species. After a few weeks of adaptation, this new female is already sharing an enclosure with the rest. With her arrival, one of the two groups of wild boars that exist in Spain and the only one in Andalusia is formed. Bioparc Fuengirola and Bioparc Valencia are the only two Spanish parks where it is possible to see this particular wild boar.

This inhabitant of the African tropical belt is classified as “of least concern” by the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Despite this, It is one of the most persecuted species for bushmeat hunting, a practice that is becoming more and more common in the areas in which it lives due to the increase in human population.

At Bioparc Fuengirola, visitors can see this species in the area dedicated to equatorial Africa, one of the tropical forests recreated in its facilities and where species such as the blue duiker, the pygmy hippopotamus, the African spoonbill, the lemon-billed duck, the chimpanzee and the western lowland gorilla coexist. Along with this habitat, it is possible to visit a sample of the island of Madagascar, Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific and, now as a novelty, the forests of Central and South America following in the footsteps of the first circumnavigation of the world, that carried out by the expedition of Juan Sebastián Elcano and Magellan.

Nature lovers can discover nearly 300 animal species, most of which are endangered in their native forests and are therefore subject to conservation programmes. The park is also home to more than a hundred different plants native to tropical and subtropical forests around the world.