Babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis)

@SivatheriumGuy Thanks, but I’m not 100% sure. Their signs say Babyrousa babyrussa and their stock take days Babyrousa sp.

https://www.zsl.org/sites/default/files/media/2021-03/Jan 2021 London Zoo stocklist.pdf

do we know where they came from?

From what it seems they came from Chester. All of the babirusas kept at European zoos are Sulawesi babirusas (Babyrousa celebensis).

@SivatheriumGuy ah thanks for the info! Didn’t know this.

Weirdly just found another article of when they arrived stating they are B. babyrussa. Seems London Zoo doesn’t know what species they have…

Pig ugly

@Fresco3 Babirusa are mostly split, but when one species, they were referred to as B.babyrussa. All European animals are the Sulawesi (sub-)species.

@lintworm yep, just been doing some reading on Babirusa taxonomy (it’s amazing what rabbit holes zoochat can lead you down!) and can see why they’re mislabelled. Seems London is simply using outdated taxonomy before the subspecies was elevated to species status.