Wild Animal Rescue • Rehabilitation • Release Tucson Arizona

Wildlife Stories Javelina `       The javelina has a heavily built body covered with coarse hair and a heavy snout. These animals are common in the southern desert regions of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, where they frequent the shrubby areas and canyons. They favour the saguaro-paloverde regions and mixed shrub grassland. They roam the desert in loose groups of 8 to 12 (but up to 30) individuals, each group being led by an older sow. They are territorial.       The favourite food is prickly pear and other fleshy cacti - they eat vast amounts of prickly pear pads and are undeterred by the spines. They also dig up roots and bulbs.       This is one of the most common wild animals at the Center is the javelina. We form herds from orphaned babies and release them with tracking collars. We achieve 100% survival with our techniques, where herds released through traditional methods approach 100% mortality. The javelina are released first into an acclimation pen to adjust to their new surroundings. After a few weeks, the herds are released. We continually monitor their health and progress by using radio telemetry provided by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Our methods have established ground breaking results! The University of Arizona's Department of Renewable Natural Resources has professors and students who partner with us in conducting research projects that benefit wildlife. Our current project involves the radio tracking of released rehabilitated javelina herds (formed from orphaned babies and injured adults) to determine the survival rate and success of our methods.   Copyright © 2000 Tucson Wildlife Center Wild Animal Rescue • Rehabilitation • Release