Wildlife Africa- Warthog Behavior

HABITAT	Warthog avoid tall grass and thickets. Savanna or woodland areas covered with short grass and with plenty of termite mounds, are the ideal Warthog habitat.
HABITS	Warthog are normally seen in small family groups of one or more sows and their most recent piglets. The adult boars normally leave isolated from the family groups, in small "bachelor groups". When the matting season arrives, fights between boars can occur, but normally end with the weaker animal running away from his contender. Adult boars have 2 pairs of outgrowths of thickened skin, just below the eyes. Sows have only one small pair of these "warts". They feed during the day, in a characteristic way, walking on their knees. At night they retire to the safety of their burrow, entering always backwards, with the exception of the piglets. Leopard and Lion are the major predators of Warthog, and young piglets are sometimes taken away by big eagles, like the Martial Eagle. They can attain a mass of around 80 Kg. and their life-span is about 15 years.
DIET	They are mostly grazers, but can occasionally feed on wild fruits. During the dry season Warthogs spend a lot of time digging for tubers and rhizomes with their powerful snorts.
BREEDING	After a gestation period of about 6 months, the sow gives birth to as many as 8 piglets, in the protection of a burrow, where they stay for about 2 weeks suckled by their mother. After this period they will emerge from the burrow, for very short periods. They will start follow their mother after about 5 weeks. Sows normally have their first litter at the age of 2 years.

ORDER	FAMILY	Scientific name
Artiodactyla	Suidae	Phacochoerus aethiopicus (Pallas,1766)