Animals such as pigs and wild boars have been familiar to everyone since childhood, but among this huge family of grunting and screeching animals there is one very interesting and amazing species. The African warthog, whose photo is now in front of you, is the prototype of the well-known Pumbaa from the cartoon “The Lion King”. The cheerful character really showed the audience a lot of truthful details about the lifestyle of real warthogs in the wild.
The African wild pig is rather unusual in both appearance and behavior. These wild animals in nature inhabit the African savannah. They are very different from their relatives. From this article you will learn how they live, what they eat and how amazing creatures of nature - African warthogs - multiply.
Warthog: photo, description
Starting to describe the appearance of the warthog, I want to immediately say, because of what he was called so. The thing is that the face of the animal is covered with warts. With age, they increase, old boars go with large cones, which are growths of leather.
When you first see a warthog, you immediately pay attention to a disproportionately large head, which is also flattened. Large, simply huge white fangs also catch their eye.
The African warthog is a cloven-hoofed very large animal. Its length sometimes reaches two meters with a weight of 110-120 kg. Against the background of such a powerful physique, his thin tail looks rather funny. If an animal is alarmed or puzzled by something, it quickly runs around the savannah, while its tail funnily lifts up. Watching such a picture, it is impossible to resist a smile.
African pig hair is hard and sparse. Through such a bad “fur coat” dark thick skin peeps. This animal in the African climate does not need warm fur; nature took care that it was not too hot. In addition, probably trying to somehow decorate the ugly appearance of the warthog, she rewarded him with a long mane that “flaunts” on the scruff and along the ridge.
Habitats in the natural environment
In the natural environment, the warthog lives on the African continent. The largest population of these animals is observed south of the Sahara desert, in Tanzania. African boars do not like open countryside and dense forests. They prefer to settle in the savannah, which is full of dry shrubs.
Usually, as noted by scientists, artiodactyls do not arrange permanent residence for themselves. This does not apply at all to the warthog, who selects a suitable place and settles down in a cozy den. An interesting fact is that the beast, wanting to take a nap in its home, crawls there, backing up like a cancer. As a result, his head with huge fangs is at the entrance to the "house". Thus, the boar is protected from attack by enemies.
Wildlife Lifestyle
African warthog is very different in its behavior and lifestyle from other species of pigs. To begin with, at night this large wild boar prefers to sleep sweetly in its lair, while its other brethren sleep during the day and graze at night.
The fangs of this animal are large, with the bend up. They serve him as a weapon against enemies, but during battles with other males the warthog only growls and tries to push the opponent away, resting his forehead on his forehead. Fangs during such battles are not launched, while other types of boars in any case attack with fangs.
The main natural enemy of the warthog is the lion. To protect themselves from a predator’s attack at night, wild boars often use the aardvark as their den, where they feel protected. Such a neighborhood does not harm either the owner or the guest, since aardvarks leave their homes at night to get food.
What does a warthog eat?
African warthog feeds mainly on plant foods. Its menu includes: berries, plant leaves, tree bark, grass. But such a diet is still diluted with protein food, in the hungry time, wild boars can even eat carrion. So these animals cannot be called vegetarians, they are omnivores.
The warthog naturally got too long legs with a very short neck. For this reason, they are not capable of pinching weed while standing. To graze, the animal has to kneel, it does the same thing at a watering place. Because of this, coarse large corns "flaunt" in warthogs on their knees.
African Warthog: Reproduction
Warthogs have no specific dates for the mating season. This is explained by the warm climate in which these fanged pigs live. When their breeding season begins, they do not turn into aggressive animals; on the contrary, they behave peacefully and relatively calmly. Only occasionally males are imbued with the spirit of competition and arrange fights, clashing their foreheads.
The female carries the cubs in her womb for about 6 months. When there is not enough time left before delivery, the expectant mother feels this and very rarely leaves the den. She tries to have babies born in a hole. Usually in one farrow there are no more than four piglets.
Warthog and man
African warthog can cause considerable harm to people. Large boars in some areas ruin plantations and fields, trampling and eating planted vegetation.
The benefit of the animal is that people are happy to eat warthog meat. It is not only very nutritious and tasty, but also healthy. In general, the African boar is a rather harmless animal, despite its large powerful body and huge fangs.