Another article on babirusas – yaay! Like many (but not all)
pigs, babirusas are omnivorous, and are said to eat
invertebrates whenever they find them. They have also been
reported to eat fish on occasion, to catch small mammals, and
even to catch and eat the juveniles of other babirusas (Leus &
Morgan 1995). They eat all kinds of plant material, including
fruits, leaves, flowers, berries, nuts, bark and tubers, and
they not only browse and dig to obtain such items, they are also
surprisingly good at standing bipedally (without support) to
feed on leaves. This again is a curious parallel with deer, in
particular Sambar. So… what’s with the bizarre curving tusks?
Present only in males (females lack canines entirely), they grow
continuously throughout life, and their growth, anatomy and
function are all odd. The lower canine is normal in position and
anatomy, it’s just that it becomes particularly long during
growth, overlapping the outside edge of the snout as it grows.
The upper canine is another story. Initi