Babirusas are unique Indonesian ungulates with distinctive curving tusks. Their welfare in zoo settings requires specific dietary management and social housing consideration.
Babirusa welfare in zoos requires specific attention to tusk management — if upper canines are not naturally worn through appropriate rooting substrate, they can grow to penetrating length requiring veterinary trimming under sedation. Substrate provision that allows natural rooting behavior thus serves both behavioral welfare and physical health. Dietary management must reflect their relatively limited jaw strength and diverse natural diet, including leafy browse, fruits, and invertebrate protein. Social housing management should account for their gregarious nature while monitoring for tusk-related injuries during conspecific interactions. Their rarity and limited captive population means reproductive management is carefully coordinated. Conservation education about Indonesian forest loss and the species threatened by habitat conversion is an important element of babirusa zoo programs.