The warthog or common warthog is a wild member of the pig family found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today that scientific name is restricted to the desert warthog of northern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia.
Similar species: Even-toed Ungulates
By Living Wild
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Uploaded Jan 10, 2015. Captured Apr 15, 2013 13:15 in D2874, Namibia.
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Hakuna ma…Wait―Did anyone else start singing that song in their head when they saw this photo?! Disney’s Lion King may have made warthogs famous, but animated or not, warthogs are seriously awesome creatures!
Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) are omnivorous animals that live in the grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa. They are unmistakable, thanks to their huge heads, which are adorned with warts, tusks, and whiskers. The tusks are used for self-defense, fighting over mating rights, and digging. About the warts: males have four (two prominent warts beneath the eyes and two smaller ones just above the mouth), while females only have two small warts right below their eyes. For the males, these warty protuberances aren’t merely decorative. Rather, they act as cushions to protect the warthog’s face from any crushing blows incurred while fighting. Warthogs have short necks and long legs, so they need to kneel down when they graze in order to get food into their mouths. Luckily, they have protective pads on their wrists, which allow them to kneel comfortably when they feed. Convenient!
Their physical features may not win them any awards for beauty, but thankfully, brains are more important than aesthetics. Warthogs are remarkably intelligent, adaptable, agile, and strong! When startled, they can run up to 50 km (30 miles) per hour! They are very skilled at adapting to threats; if they live in areas where people hunt, they will constantly alter their foraging schedule—they easily learn to avoid and evade the hunters. Furthermore, warthogs enjoy a good mud bath, which is no doubt as fun as it is practical. The mud protects their skin from bug bites, sunburns, and cools them down. Warthogs are also resourceful in that don’t bother to dig their own homes. Instead, they “borrow” the burrows dug by others (usually by aardvarks). Okay, well…technically, they trespass. They use these pilfered holes for protection, sleeping, and rearing their young. And, they are smart enough to back themselves into the hole upon entering, so that their tusks are pointed outwards, ready to defend themselves and their home at a moment’s notice. It’s “home, sweet “stolen” home” for the warthog. {Spotted in Namibia by JungleDragon user, Living Wild} #JungleDragon #nature #wildlife #warthog Posted 5 years ago