Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Common warthog
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Ecology== [[File:African warthog 10.jpg|upright|230px|thumb|A warthog grazing at [[Addo Elephant National Park]] in [[South Africa]]]] [[File:Leopard eats alive Warthog ✰Amaizing Video HD 5.png|thumb|Warthog fighting a [[leopard]]]] The common warthog is the only pig species that has adapted to grazing and savanna habitats.<ref name="Estes 1991">Estes, R. (1991). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates. Los Angeles, University of California Press. pp. 218–221 {{ISBN|0520080858}}.</ref> Its diet is [[omnivorous]], composed of grasses, roots, berries and other fruits, bark, fungi, insects, eggs and carrion.<ref name="Kleiman 2004">Kleiman, D.G., Geist, V., McDade, M.C. (2004). ''Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia''. The Gale Group Inc.</ref> The diet is seasonably variable, depending on availability of different food items. During the wet seasons, warthogs graze<ref name="Estes 1991"/> on short perennial grasses.<ref name="Kingdon 1979">Kingdon, J. (1979). East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 3, Part B: Large Mammals. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. pp. 231–249.</ref> During the dry seasons, they subsist on bulbs, [[rhizomes]], and nutritious roots.<ref name="Estes 1991"/><ref name="Kingdon 1979"/> Warthogs are powerful diggers, using both their snouts and feet. When feeding, they often bend their front feet backwards and move around on the wrists.<ref>{{cite book|last=Unwin|first=Mike|title=Southern African wildlife: a visitor's guide|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|year=2003|page=68|isbn=978-1-84162-060-2}}</ref> Calloused pads that protect the wrists during such movement form early in the development of the fetus. Although they can dig their own burrows, they often occupy abandoned burrows of [[aardvark]]s<ref name="Kingdon 1979"/> and other animals. The common warthog commonly reverses into burrows, with its head facing the opening and ready to burst out if necessary. Common warthogs will wallow in mud to cope with high temperatures and huddle together to cope with low temperatures.<ref>Vercammen, P., Mason, D.R. "[http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/pphsg/APchap4-2.htm Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos Status Survey and Action Plan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509091806/http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/pphsg/APchap4-2.htm |date=9 May 2008 }}".</ref> Although capable of fighting (males fight each other during mating season), the common warthog's primary defense is to flee by means of fast sprinting. When threatened, warthogs can run at speeds of up to {{cvt|48|km/h}}, they will run with their tails sticking up and will enter their dens rear first with tusks facing out.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/58337-warthog-facts.html|title=Facts About Warthogs|website=Live Science|date=21 March 2017|access-date=2020-03-16|archive-date=31 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031202626/https://www.livescience.com/58337-warthog-facts.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The common warthog's main predators are [[human]]s, [[lion]]s, [[leopard]]s, [[cheetah]]s, [[Nile crocodile|crocodile]]s, [[African wild dog|wild dog]]s and [[Spotted hyena|hyena]]s. [[Black-backed jackal|Jackal]]s, [[Verreaux's eagle owl]]s and [[martial eagle]]s sometimes prey on piglets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orion-hotels.net/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=martial-eagle-kills-baby-warthog.html&Itemid=&lang=de|title=Martial Eagle Kills Baby Warthog|website=Orion-hotels.net|access-date=2012-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106223058/http://www.orion-hotels.net/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=martial-eagle-kills-baby-warthog.html&Itemid=&lang=de|archive-date=2014-01-06|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>''Owls of the World'' by Konig, Weick & Becking. Yale University Press (2009), {{ISBN|0300142277}}.</ref> However, a female common warthog will defend her piglets aggressively. On occasion, common warthogs have been observed charging and even wounding large predators. Common warthogs have also been observed allowing [[banded mongoose]]s and [[vervet monkey]]s to groom them to remove [[tick]]s.<ref>[http://www.wildwatch.com/living_library/mammals-2/warthog Warthog – Africa's Jester] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405091638/http://www.wildwatch.com/living_library/mammals-2/warthog |date=5 April 2011 }}. Wildwatch.com. Retrieved 2012-08-22.</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)