North Sulawesi babirusa suggestive of a deer's antlers. Together with the other members of the genus "Babyrousa", the North Sulawesi babirusa has usually been considered a subspecies of a widespread "Babyrousa babyrussa", but recent work suggests that there may be several species, differentiable on the basis of geography, body size, amount of body hair, and the shape of the upper canine tooth of the male. Following the split, the "true" "Babyrousa babyrussa" is restricted to Buru and the Sula Islands. Most experts agree that babirusas are part of the pig family, and are one of the oldest living members of the family, representing
Babirusa to Sulawesi, some of the Togian Islands, the Sula Islands and Buru. In Sulawesi, they range from the northern peninsula to the south and south east provinces. Although babirusas are present on both Sulawesi and Sula, they are not found on the large islands between the two, the Banggai Archipelago. It has been hypothesized that the unusual distribution is due to their being transported by humans as gifts bestowed by native royalty. The preferred habitat of babirusa are tropical rainforests along river banks. It appears that they have been confined to the higher grounds in the interior despite occurring in