Common Warthog

Primarily grazers that feed on grasses, warthogs will also eat roots, shoots, and bark of young trees or shrubs. Occasionally, warthogs will scavenge animal remains. When water is scarce, they can go months without drinking water. Instead, they get the liquid from tubers and other vegetation they consume.

At the Zoo, warthogs eat a specialized herbivore pellet, hay, fruits, and vegetables.

The common warthog is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Common warthogs prefer habitats with open areas like wooded savannas, grasslands, and bushlands. They avoid densely wooded areas and deserts due to the lack of suitable grazing. Warthogs require areas to cool off to cope with high temperatures, including mud wallows.

Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, painted dogs and humans all hunt warthogs. Common warthogs avoid nocturnal predators by being active during the day and spending the night in burrows. However, warthogs will also change their habits to avoid humans. Warthogs may shift to a more nocturnal lifestyle in areas where they live close to humans.

Although generally widespread and abundant, most warthog populations are in decline. Threats include habitat degradation and loss due to human land use changes, which also increase drought and competition with domestic livestock for food and water. Unsustainable hunting or trapping, whether for sport, food, or human-wildlife conflict, could become a serious threat in some areas of Africa.

Common warthogs have a large head and barrel-shaped, sturdy body. Adults tend to have darker gray or black skin. Both males and females have two sets of tusks, an upper and a lower. The upper set can grow up to 10 inches long, with the females' being slightly smaller. As their name suggests, they have several sets of facial “warts” or fibrous growths. Males have three sets, and females have two. These warts offer protection and help cushion blows during physical confrontations, which is why they are larger in males who fight for the opportunity to mate.

A long mane of dark hair runs from the nape of the neck along the spine to the middle of the back. There is sparse, coarse hair covering the rest of the body. Their tails are long with a tuft of hair at the end.

The large, broad snout of common warthogs lends itself to a great sense of smell. They often kneel on their front legs to sniff out food underground and root up dinner with their tusks. Calloused knees allow warthogs to shuffle along in the kneeling position for long periods of time. They have longer legs than other swine, reaching running speeds of up to 34 miles per hour.

Mating in common warthogs is seasonally dependent, usually several months after the rainy season. Females spend most of their lives in groups called soundings, while males are solitary except during mating season. They do not defend territories but will fight for the opportunity to mate.

Males play no role in parental care. After a gestation period of just over five months, a pregnant female will give birth to one to seven pink piglets. Piglets are born in a burrow, and the family will stay underground for the first week or so. Females will sometimes share burrows and nurse the young of others. Eventually, the mom (sow) will venture out for food and return to the nurse, but the piglets will stay in the burrow for the first six to seven weeks. After that time, young warthogs venture out with mom and stick close by her side. They will be fully weaned at about six months old but may stay with the sounding for up to two years until they reach full maturity.

Common warthogs have poor eyesight but a great sense of smell and hearing. They communicate with grunts, growls, snorts, and squeaks. These vocalizations can communicate a threat, warning, or greeting. When alarmed, a warthog will run with its tail completely straight and upright to warn others.

Warthogs are tactile when socializing and will use physical touch to communicate. Nuzzling, rubbing against one another, and grooming occur during friendly encounters. Scent markings from glands on the face deposit pheromones on solid objects and each other. Urination helps mark edges of homie ranges and communicate readiness to mate. Males use scent marking more frequently than females, especially during mating season.

Warthogs are diurnal (more active during the day) but may have periods of inactivity during the hottest times in the middle of the day. However, warthogs will also change their habits to avoid humans. Warthogs may shift to a more nocturnal lifestyle in areas where they live close to humans.

Warthogs do not dig their own burrows; instead, they find abandoned aardvark holes or natural burrows to use as homes. They use these burrows to raise their young, sleep, hide from predators, and escape extreme temperatures. While it may be hot at noon or freezing in the middle of the night above ground, the warthog remains comfortable in its burrow. They change sleeping burrows frequently within their home range.