Common+Warthog

The common warthog is very closely related to the typical pink pigs you’d see on a farm or at the local zoo. Warthogs, classified under the Suidae family, are wild pigs bearing four ivory tusks that point upward and are sharpened by constant rubbing that takes place every time the warthog opens its mouth. Female warthogs tend to weigh less and are generally smaller than male warthogs. The common warthog are large animals with large heads; they have hair that covers their entire body most along their backs. Warthogs are usually black or brown in color; they have long tails that end with a tuft of hair. Warthogs are called warthogs because of their wart like markings roughly four on their head that resemble warts. These raised warts like fatty lumps are actually fat stores that double as protection when the male warthogs find themselves in a fight with other warthogs. There are a total of four of subspecies of warthogs, the Nolan, Eritrean, Northern and the Southern Warthogs which is the species most likely to be seen in South Africa.

The common warthog can be found grazing in the grasslands, savannas, and woodlands in fact the warthog is the only pig species known to have adapted grazing. These animals are not territorial, so they can be found huddled up together when the temperature drops and can be seen wallowing in the mud when the temperatures rise. Warthogs live in open area ranges and coexist in groups called sounders. The female sounders include the female warthogs and their young children plus other females, whereas the male groups include all single male warthogs - although male warthogs with families will remain relatively close to his partner in the open range. Female warthogs are able to have up to eight piglets but usually have around four at a time. Warthogs are powerful diggers, and so they will use both their snouts and feet to dig burrows although they have been known to just occupy abandoned burrows that of other animals leave behind to give birth. Warthogs carry their young for six months and nurse them for the same amount of time although about three weeks in the piglets began grazing alongside mom. Female warthogs have been known to nurse other piglets in the event that her piglets for whatever reason did make it or survive. The males have also been known to try and protect his female during this time.

Warthogs, while not the most attractive looking creatures, are actually gentle in nature. Their diet consist of fruits, grass, different roots they dig up using their snouts and feet, berries, bark, fungi, and insects. The diet for a warthog is one of season variety it all depends on what’s available in that particular season. In the wet seasons, warthogs will eat mainly grass and in the dry season mainly roots and bulbs. Warthogs can go long periods of time without water, sometimes even months even during the dry season. Warthogs are preyed upon by humans, lions, the Martial and Verreaux eagles (prey upon the piglets), crocodiles, wild dogs, hyenas, cheetahs, and leopards. While warthogs would rather run away from a predator and are capable of getting up to speeds above thirty miles an hour, they have been observed occasionally standing and fighting to protect their young against these larger predators. On the conservation list warthogs are listed as a least concern. In South Africa alone there are an estimated two hundred and fifty thousand warthogs.