Facts about Warthogs
Scientific Name: Phacochoerus
aethiopicus
Range & Habitat: Grassland and light
forest throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara.
Size: 100-350 lbs; 3-5' long body
Life Span: 12-18 years
Gestation: About 6 months; usually 2-3 piglets
Wild Diet: Short grasses, roots,
bark and seeds. Sometimes will use their snouts to search the soil for roots
and will also eat fruit and sometimes carrion.
Zoo Diet: Fruits and vegetables, grain, alfalfa and brome.
Habits: Warthogs frequently inhabit abandoned aardvark
burrows. When threatened by predators, a mother warthog will lead her piglets
in a distinctly ordered, single-file line back to the burrow. When they reach
the burrow, the piglets scurry in head-first. The adults back in after the
piglets, using their tusks to fend off predators.
Unlike most wild pigs,
warthogs are active during the day, emerging from burrows each morning to graze
on a variety of grasses, roots and berries. Because their short necks do not
allow their heads to reach the ground, warthogs must kneel on their fat-padded
wrists to reach the tastiest grasses – an adaptation that makes warthogs
specially designed for grazing on the grasslands (unlike other species of pigs).
A warthog’s facial features are its most
distinguishing characteristics; warts on either side of the head and below the
eyes are skin growths of cartilage and fat. Their tusks, which are upper canine
teeth, look impressive and can grow 16 inches long. But, it is a warthog’s
smaller, less visible lower canine teeth that carry the greater threat.
Warthogs use these razor-sharp teeth to protect themselves from potential
predators like hyenas, cheetahs, leopards and lions.
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