Phacochoerus africanus: Warthog – Vlakvark (Afrikaans)

Warthogs are part of the pig family but with wart-like growths on their large flat heads. They have very little hair except for the mane which starts on the head and goes down the spine. They are native to Africa with two main species: the common warthog and the desert warthog and six sub-species.

On the next two photos below you can see one very curious warthog wanting to see who the new residents are.

You can find them on farms running wild and close to water holes in the savannah areas. They are grazers and not ferocious at all, are herbivores spending most of their day looking for food, mainly roots, berries, bulbs and then the occasional insects, bugs and worms when there is a shortage due to drought, they are very adaptable and can go for months without water. Warthogs kneel on their front knees with calloused pads while eating.

Warthogs can reach a height of up to70cm, females weighing 40-80kg and males 55-90kg. They have two pairs of tusks, the upper curving tusks for digging and lower shorter razor-sharp ones for fighting. They reach sexual maturity at 18 months and breed between September to December. The female gives birth to 1-8 piglets at a time, weighing about 600g at birth and the gestation period is 3-6 months. They live for about 15 years.

You can find them in groups of up to 30 pigs called. The females are very sociable and the males’ territorial. Family grouping consists of adult saws and their young, a bachelors group with only young males and sometimes you will come across a solitary boar.

They like taking over barrows of other animals instead of digging their own. They roll in mud to cool down during hot conditions and snug close together during colder temperatures.

Predators like lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, crocodiles and birds of prey feed on them. they are quite fast with a speed of 35km/h which enables them to sometimes out run their predators. Oxpeckers ride on their backs to eat the insects on their bodies but they also allow mongoose and monkeys to groom them and remove the ticks.

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