We estimated birth rates in wild boar Sus scrofa by counting embryos in the uterus of females killed in individual or drive hunts. Counting corpora lutea in the ovaries gave information on embryo: corpus luteum rate, which can be useful for estimating birth rates in early stages of pregnancy. Birth rates were estimated separately for the different age groups. Age was estimated by means of teeth wear. Survival was estimated by direct observations counting the piglet:female ratio in matrilineal groups. The method is suitable for assessing summer survival only, as 8–9 months after birth, matrilineal groups begin to disintegrate. Average estimated birth rate was 6.7 ± 2.1 (N = 51).We found a positive linear relationship between conception rate and age of female, conception rate and body mass, and conception rate and body length, respectively. In late stages of pregnancy, embryo: corpus luteum rate proved to be 0.83 ± 0.15. Recruitment of piglets to the female population was low; more than half of the piglets had perished by the end of September. The highest mortality rate occurred in the first weeks of the piglets' lives.

European wildlife has been subjected to intensifying levels of anthropogenic impact throughout the Holocene, yet the main genetic partitioning of many species is thought to still reflect the late-Pleistocene glacial refugia. We analyzed 26,342 nuclear SNPs of 464 wild boar (Sus scrofa) across the European continent to infer demographic history and reassess the genetic consequences of natural and anthropogenic forces. We found that population fragmentation, inbreeding and recent hybridization with domestic pigs have caused the spatial genetic structure to be heterogeneous at the local scale. Underlying local anthropogenic signatures, we found a deep genetic structure in the form of an arch-shaped cline extending from the Dinaric Alps, via Southeastern Europe and the Baltic states, to Western Europe and, finally, to the genetically diverged Iberian peninsula. These findings indicate that, despite considerable anthropogenic influence, the deeper, natural continental structure is still intact. Regarding the glacial refugia, our findings show a weaker signal than generally assumed, but are nevertheless suggestive of two main recolonization routes, with important roles for Southern France and the Balkans. Our results highlight the importance of applying genomic resources and framing genetic results within a species’ demographic history and geographic distribution for a better understanding of the complex mixture of underlying processes.