warthog

a kind of animal – mammal – four-legged – omnivorous (= eating plant matter and meat) – diurnal (= active during day) – pachyderm (= thick skinned) – belongs to the pig family – large in brown, grey or black with very little body hair and body fat, but with coarse skin, with a tuft of stiff hairs (bristles), like a mane on the neck of the horse or lion, from the top of the head down the spine to the middle of the back, large head, with small eyes set high, and large, pointed, straight ears, long, flat, hard snout (= mouth and nose part), with warts, bumps – two large pairs in males, and one small pair in females – by the side of the face below the eyes, and between the eyes and tusks, a very small pair near the jaw (mostly in males), two long upper upward-curved tusks sticking out from the sides of the mouth forming a semicircle, two small, sharp lower tusks on the front lower jaw, short, thick neck, large abdomen, long slender legs with hooves, long, thin tail with a tuft of bristles; size: 2½-3 feet tall at the shoulder, 3-5 feet long, and weight: 50-125 Kg (males larger than females); feeds on (eats) grass and plant matter – roots, bulbs, fungi, and small animals, birds and carrion (= flesh of the dead animals); lives for 15-20 years; two sub-species, the common warthog and the desert warthog – found in parts of Africa

male ~~ boar

female ~~ sow

baby ~~ piglet

group ~~ sounder

voice (call) ~~ grunt, snort, squeal

home ~~ burrow, hole, den

movement ~~ trot

Special Features:

tusks & warts

The most striking feature of this pig, the warthog, is the large, flat snout.  This snout is shovel-shaped, tough, almost rock-hard, as an animal expert put it: “like a protective helmet”, which the warthog uses for digging up the roots and bulbs from the soil.

Next in the fascinating items of warthog is its ‘warts’, after which this pig is named!  As the name suggests, a male warthog has two pairs of warts, and a female has one.  The male has large warts on either side of the face – one pair by the side of the face below the eyes, and the other, smaller than the pair above, between the eye and the tusk.  These warts are not warts in the real sense, but cartilage concentration (= soft, flexible, bone-like substance), like the ‘shoulder pads’ of a football player!  And as the shoulder pads protect the player from jolts and abrasions, these ‘warts’, which grow up to 5 inches long, protect the warthog while fighting with other males during mating season or defending themselves from attacks by their predators.  The females have only one small pair because they seldom need to fight among themselves!

And then the next item of interest is the ‘tusks’! Both male and female warthogs have two pairs of tusks.  The upper pair grows upwards, sticking out from the sides of the mouth, almost making a semi-circle above the snout.  These upper tusks can be 2 feet long.  The lower pair also grows upward, just below the upper tusks.  This pair, however, is short, grows to only 4 inches in length, but very sharp!

warthog tusk knife handle

The warthogs have been hunted for their meat, skin, bristles and tusks.  Tusks are carved into fine decorative items!

Unlike other species of pig, a female warthog has only 4 teats (= the nipples on the female abdomen from which the babies suckle).  Therefore, a female gives birth to a litter of 1-4 piglets.  It is surprising to know that each piglet has its own teat, and when a piglet (sibling) dies, none of the other siblings use that teat!!

When trotting (running) a warthog keeps its tail erect, like flying a flag, which feature, some animal experts think, is to show as a signal to the other warthogs, or more importantly, to guide the piglets.

Warthogs have poor eye sight, but excellent sense of smell and hearing.

When a warthog grazes on the short grass, it has to kneel to reach it, and, as the neck is short it has to bent its head so low that it cannot see the predators lurking around.  To overcome this problem, the warthog’s eyes are placed high on the head so that it can keep an eye (or both) on the surrounding while grazing!

The warthog is the only species of the pig family which can go without water for a month or more.  It, however, drinks regularly when the water is available!  And the warthog has the ability to withstand more body temperature than any other pig. [Like all other pig species, warthogs also do not have any sweat glands; they wallow in the muddy water pools to keep themselves cool.]

Warthogs use burrows or holes to spend their nights or very hot afternoons.  Some times they dig their own holes, but most often they occupy the burrows made by other animals, such as aardvark (= a kind of pig-like animal of Africa that feeds on ants and termites).

defending the burrow

While escaping from predators, the small piglets rush into the burrows head first, but the boar enters the burrow with its back part first, keeping its tusks facing the predator, so that it can defend itself with them!

There are a few cartoons, comics and animated films with the warthog in the lead role.

The most popular being the character “Pumbaa” the warthog in Disney’s animated film “The Lion King”!

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