All babirusa subspecies reach an average weight of 160 pounds and a length of 3 feet.

The most well-known babirusa, the north Sulawesi babirusa, has very short hair and appears almost bald while the other three subspecies have longer coats that range in color from white and gold to brown and black.

Babirusa means pig-deer in Indonesian. People believe this is due to either their slender legs or their large canines looking like antlers.

The babirusa’s upper and lower canines grow upwards towards their forehead; however, their upper canines can reach a length of 17 inches, penetrating through the snout. This only occurs in the males and canine structure varies by species.

The babirusa is a swine species found in the Indonesian islands of Sula, Buru, Sulawesi, and Togian. Their ideal habitat is along riverbanks in tropical rainforests. With there being odd gaps in the islands that babirusas are located, it is believed that humans may have shipped them around as gifts to royalty.

Babirusas are omnivores with a diverse diet that includes berries, nuts, leaves, mushrooms, fish, small mammals, insects, and more. Because they don’t have a rostral bone like most pigs, they do not dig with their snout but instead use their hooves. Babirusas also balance on their back two feet to reach higher leaves to feed on!

Male babirusas use their tusks to fight for females; the upper one is for defense and the lower one is for offense. After mating, females will remain pregnant for about 5 months before giving birth to 1-2 piglets. The piglets are born with stripes to camouflage them from predators, which is useful as they start to wander away from the nest looking for solid food by 10 days old.

In 2002, scientists split the Babyrousa genus into four subspecies. One subspecies is only known from fossil remains so it is sometimes grouped together with other subspecies.

If the babirusa does not grind them down regularly, their canines can eventually penetrate their skull.