A boar is a wild pig, covered in coarse, bristly hair and armed with sharp tusks that curve up from its lower jaw. Boars are powerful, intelligent animals that live in forests and woodlands across Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. They root through soil with their strong snouts, searching for roots, nuts, insects, and anything else edible.

Male boars can weigh over 400 pounds and become aggressive when threatened, making them one of the more dangerous wild animals a hunter might encounter. In medieval Europe, hunting wild boar was considered a test of courage and skill, requiring hunters on horseback with spears to face down these formidable creatures.

The word can specifically refer to a male pig, while a female is called a sow. Domestic pigs are descendants of wild boars, bred over thousands of years to be less aggressive and better suited for farming. When people talk about boar's head as a traditional feast dish, they're referring to this wild ancestor of the barnyard pig.

In some places today, wild boars have become an invasive species, causing problems for farmers when they damage crops with their rooting behavior.