A safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda - October 2007

WARTHOG
(Phacochoerus africanus )

Cute they’re not. But they are interesting. Warthogs, so called because of their wart-like tusks – 4 of them, are members of the Suidae family (pigs). They grow to a length of about five feet, and can weigh as much as 330 pounds.

Warthogs will eat just about anything, though they prefer grasses. When they are eating, they often bend down on their from knees. This gives them a very distinctive look. It is amusing to watch them walk this way all over the ground – which we did when they came right up to the lodge where we were staying.

A group of warthogs is called a sounder. A sounder tends to be from 3 to 10 animals, sometimes larger. Males come in and out of the sounder, though they prefer to stay in male groups until the mating season. Males will fight each other for mating privileges. Otherwise, they are not territorial.

We saw warthogs just about everywhere we went - in the tall grasses of the savannah, in dense woods, and - of course - right outside our lodge door.