thereby also causing great disruption to the pygmy hog habitat. The pygmy hog is currently on the verge of extinction. By 2002, the only viable population, consisting of only a few hundred individuals, currently exists in small grassland pockets of Manas National Park in Assam, India, and an adjacent reserve forest in the Manas Tiger Reserve, and nowhere else in the world. Today, it is estimated that only about 250 pygmy hogs still remain in existence. Behavior and ecology Pygmy hogs are social animals that live in small family groups consisting of one or two females and their offspring. They are non-territorial, and sometimes family groups can consist of as many as 20 individuals. Adult males are generally solitary and live separately rather than with the family group. However, they do maintain loose contact with the basic family group throughout the year. Pygmy hogs also have a very unique nesting behavior which the tall grasses of their habitat enable them to perform. In the wild, they make firm nests in which to sleep by digging small trenches, using dry grasses and vegetation to line them. They sleep in these nests at night, but also retreat to these nests during the heat of the day, and use them to warm up in the winter. The nests are also used for birthing and to hide and protect newborn piglets. Piglets are born greyish-pink in color, and develop a brown coat with faint yellow stripes along their body length before they attain their final adult coloring. Their average lifespan is between 8 and 14 years in the wild, and they become sexually mature at one or two years old. Breeding occurs seasonally before the monsoons, and after a gestation period of 100 days, females give birth to litters ranging between two to six offspring, with the average litter size being three to four piglets. Pygmy hogs are diurnal and forage for food during the daylight hours. Foraging usually takes place for about 6 to 10 hours a day, with the pygmy hog generally taking a break midday in order to escape the high heat of the afternoon. Pygmy hogs are also omnivorous and feed primarily on roots, tubers, and other vegetative food, as well as on insects, rodents, eggs, young birds, and small reptiles. Pygmy hogs also fulfill important ecological roles within their ecosystems, since by using their snouts to dig for food,