The Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is a mid-sized African ungulate featured in the Standard Edition of Planet Zoo.
Zoopedia Description[]
General[]
Population in the Wild: 250,000
The common warthog (or Phacochoerus africanus) lives throughout Sub-Saharan Africa in a wide variety of environments. Although not currently endangered, the species is vulnerable to drought and hunting, as they're often viewed by humans as pests. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, they can spread disease to livestock. Secondly, they can destroy crops on farmland when rooting with their tusks. This has resulted in some pockets of the population being wiped out.
The common warthog has a large head with a coarse mane of hair and distinctive tusks. The upper tusks are large, thick and blunt, while the lower tusks are short and sharp. Warthogs also have large cartilaginous protrusions on their cheeks. The males average between 1.3 and 1.5m in length and between 60 and 150kg in weight, whereas females average shorter and lighter, averaging between 0.9 to 1.3m long and 45 to 75kg in weight.
Social[]
Warthogs have a complex social structure. Mature females tend to live in interrelated groups with their offspring. However, year-old piglets may leave their mother's group and live in sibling groups, before splitting up as they get older. The young females usually return to their mother's group, whereas young males will form bachelor herds until they are old and strong enough to become solitary.
Reproduction[]
Male warthogs have two strategies for mating. These are called 'tending' and 'roaming'. A tending male will join a sounder of females during the mating season and block other males from coming close; as well as try to stop females going to other males. Roaming males search for multiple sounders and attempt to mate with females from these groups, often competing with the tending male. The female common warthogs are pregnant for 5-6 months before giving birth to 3 to 7 piglets in their burrow. These young piglets reach maturity for the first time until they are 4 to 5 years old.
Animal Care[]
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Hay · Root Vegetables · High Fibre Biscuits | |
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FOOD ENRICHMENT |
HABITAT ENRICHMENT |
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Trivia[]
Zoopedia Fun Facts[]
- The name for a group of common warthogs is a 'sounder' or 'sounding'.
- The upper tusks of the common warthog can grow up to 25cm long.
- Common warthogs sleep in the abandoned burrows of other animals, usually aardvarks.
- The tusks of the warthog shear against each other, making the bottom tusks razor sharp. Warthogs use these for attacking predators.
- Common warthogs back into their burrows so that they are facing outwards and can charge at predators if they are at risk.
Gallery[]
Image Gallery[]
