Species profile
About the common warthog
Warthogs are the daytime pigs of Africa, and they are everywhere on Tanzania's savannas. They graze on bent front knees, which are protected by thick calloused pads, and their aerial-like raised tails when running are one of the most familiar sights on a game drive.
They do not dig their own homes: a family takes over an abandoned aardvark burrow and reverses into it, so the tusked head faces any predator that follows. Warthogs are important prey for lion, leopard and wild dog throughout the country.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Strictly diurnal, unusually so for a pig. Grazes on the front knees, wallows in mud in the heat and reverses into a burrow at night.
Social life
Females and young live in sounders that may join with others; boars are usually solitary or in loose bachelor groups, joining sounders only to breed.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Two pairs of tusks — the upper curved for display and defence, the lower short and razor-sharp — and facial "warts" that cushion blows during fights between boars.
