author(s)
Ravinder Singh and Manoj Kumar

abstract
The Indian wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) is widespread animal throughout the India. A preliminary study was conducted to observe the prevalence of Indian wild boar (Sus scrofa) and its damage in agricultural crop fields in three selected areas in Punjab. The study period ranges from December 2016 – March 2018. During this period Indian wild boar activity was recorded to be 70.21%, 90.9% and 81.81% of the total number of observations at PAU (Ludhiana), University Seed Farm (Ladhowal) and Regional Station for Kandi area, Ballowal Saunkhri (SBS Nagar) respectively. For the study of pug-marks of Indian wild boar, Plaster of Paris casts of pug marks were prepared (n=16) from all the three selected locations which revealed the presence of juvenile (18.75%), sub-adult (25.0%) and adult (56.25%) individuals. The study also revealed that on an average 15-20% of the crop were damaged by Indian wild boar. More damage was observed to maize (Zea mays), Jawar (Sorghum vulgare), Rice (Oryza sativa), Brassica spp. and vegetables crops. The incident of damage was very high in crop fields adjacent to forest area. The farmers also used some traditional methods to minimize the damage of animals over the agricultural crops.