47-395: Phacochoerus aethiopicus Phacochoerus africanus Phacochoerus is a genus in the family Suidae , commonly known as warthogs (pronounced wart-hog ). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa . The two species were formerly considered conspecific under the scientific name Phacochoerus aethiopicus , but today this
94-452: A 'face mask' with a contrasting pattern of blackish to dark brown and white to dark grey markings, or may sometimes be completely whitish. The ears have tassels of long hairs. Their very sharp tusks are fairly short and inconspicuous. Unlike warthogs , bushpigs run with their long and thin tails down. Males are normally larger than females. Old males develop two warts on their snout. Piglets are born with pale yellowish longitudinal stripes on
141-601: A brief period of domestication . Numerous hybrids with domesticated breeds of pig have also been reported. The bushpig appears to have increased its range in Botswana during the late 1970s or early 1980s. In 1993, it was speculated that the northern range of the species had shrunk due to sahelisation . It is uncommon in Burundi . For most of 20th century bushpigs were seen as a single species, Potamochoerus porcus , by almost all authors. In 1993 Peter Grubb , writing for
188-496: A closing mechanism and regularly stock it with feed for a period of two or three months, before engaging the mechanism with a whole sounder or more inside. Setting this up must be done carefully by the same person alone in the same shoes, so as not to arouse the hogs' suspicion. In Southern Africa governments organise periodic culls to reduce bushpig numbers. The governments of Malawi and the Democratic Republic of
235-450: A dark brown background; these soon disappear and the coat becomes reddish brown, with a black and white dorsal crest in both sexes. This mane bristles when the animal becomes agitated. Distributed over a wide range, the bushpig occurs from Ethiopia and Somalia in the north to southeastern DR Congo and southwards through the Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces , South Africa , where it
282-554: A delicacy in South Africa; prices have fluctuated widely between 1995 and 2005. Throughout Africa, it is almost exclusively sold in local markets, although meat sometimes turns up in the larger towns or cities. It is often the main money maker for hunters in Gabon , constituting up to 80% of the total income. Hunters generally consume only about a third themselves, the rest is sold as bushmeat . In northern Zambian National Parks, it
329-534: A dominant male and a dominant female, with other females and juveniles accounting for the rest. Groups engage in ritual aggressive behaviour when encountering each other, but will actually fight for large food sources. Sounders have home ranges, but are not territorial and different home ranges overlap. Groups generally keep away from each other. All intruders near the sounder are attacked, also non-bushpigs. Home ranges are 400 to 1,000 hectares, in Knysna (a forest region)
376-541: A few incidents of bushpig breaking into domestic pig paddocks to kill and eat both the sows and the young piglets. They are a significant nuisance animal in the agricultural regions, and are hunted fairly extensively. However, the population of bushpigs in many farming areas is stable or growing despite the hunting efforts, due to largely inaccessible terrain, abundance of food, lack of predators, relatively high reproductive potential, and their rapid ability to adapt to hunting methods. At camping sites they can also become
423-468: A half years and life expectancy is ten or more years. Desert warthogs were experimentally infected with the virus that causes African swine fever . It was found that the warthogs showed no external signs of the infection but that they remained infective to domestic pigs for at least 33 days, this being the date on which the experiment terminated. To reduce the risk of their animals being infected with this disease, farmers used to shoot desert warthogs. It
470-489: A length of 10 to 25 inches (25 to 64 centimetres); females' tusks are always smaller. They are largely herbivorous , but, like most suids, opportunistically eat invertebrates or small animals, even scavenging on carrion . While both species remain fairly common and widespread, and considered to be of Least Concern by the IUCN , the nominate subspecies of desert warthog, commonly known as the Cape warthog ( P. a. aethiopicus )
517-458: A nest three metre wide and one metre high during the winter, with bedding consisting of stacked hay, twigs or plant debris from floods, to keep the litter of piglets for approximately four months while they wean. The males are the main care-givers, the sows visit the nest only to nurse the piglets. Sows have six teats. They snort and grunt harshly while foraging or alarmed. The pigs are essentially nocturnal , hiding in very dense thickets during
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#1732787081713564-479: A night to feed. A 1990 study in the Cape found an average daily movements of 3 km, with an amplitude of 0.7 to 5.8 km. They are omnivorous and their diet can include roots, crops, succulent plants , water sedges, rotten wood, insects, small reptiles, eggs, nestlings and carrion . Tubers, bulbs and fruit are the most important food. Eggs and nestlings are also a favorite. Both fresh and very rotten carrion
611-401: A nuisance, learning to raid the tents. In Islamic parts of East Africa and parts of Madagascar, it is a further nuisance because, as it is a pig, it is not permitted to be eaten, although in some areas 'red' bushpig meat is not considered haram like 'white' pig meat. Some Zambian ethnicities also avoid bushpig meat, believing it harbours diseases such epilepsy . Its meat is considered
658-509: A study by Weitz 1963. These resulted in variously 16% or 12% (depending on sample) of P. aethiopicus infected with trypanosomes . The trypanosomes found included Trypanosoma brucei by Geigy et al 1967 and T. congolense by Baker 1968. In cases of per-acute infection, Ashcroft 1959 and Geigy found P. aethiopicus to be suffering widespread haemorrhaging of serous membranes of their vital organs, hepatomegaly , splenomegaly , lymphadenopathy , and body fat atrophy. Torr 1994 found that
705-410: A trap for several months. They are also suspicious of unfamiliar objects such as cigarette butts on their trails or broken branches or scuff-marks in the soil, and will avoid the area when they find them. Using packs of specially trained dogs to hunt is more efficient, but dogs may be killed by the boars if they are not careful. Another way of killing the pigs is to make a large and very sturdy boma with
752-680: Is a member of the pig family that inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa . Probably introduced populations are also present in Madagascar . There have also been unverified reports of their presence on the Comoro island of Mayotte . Bushpigs are mainly nocturnal . There are several subspecies . The vernacular name 'bushpig' may be used for either Potamochoerus species. Adult bushpigs stand from 66 to 100 cm (26 to 39 in) at
799-434: Is born in one of the burrows. The young begin to emerge from the burrow for short periods when about three weeks old and as they get bigger they follow their mother closely. They are weaned at three or more months but remain dependent on their mother for several more months after that. She defends them from predators such as lions , leopards , cheetahs and hyaenas . The desert warthog has specific warning grunts that alert
846-454: Is eaten. Small young antelope are stalked and consumed. A behaviour observed in Uganda is to follow a troop of monkeys or baboons in the trees above to feed on the falling fruit and peels. During droughts high mortalities have occurred in South Africa. In South Africa, 40% of the diet was tubers and other underground plant parts, 30% was herbage, 13% fruit, 9% animal matter and 8% fungi. It
893-547: Is known for destructive grubbing , uprooting shrubs and scattering them around, unearthing all root crops, feeding on only a few, and trampling the rest. Favourite crops are pô-pô , sugarcane, bananas and maize . It cuts down such taller plants at their base to reach the fruit. Other favourite agricultural crops are beans , peas , groundnuts , sweet potatoes , pumpkin , potatoes , carrots , pineapple , spanspek , watermelon , nuts , alfalfa , and green pasture . Chicken pens are often destroyed and raided. There are also
940-507: Is largely known from the areas around Johannesburg and all along the country's southern coast. It is also known to inhabit Botswana , Eswatini , Kenya , Malawi , Mozambique , Tanzania , Uganda , Zambia and Zimbabwe . The bushpig also occurs on Madagascar , and possibly other islands in the Comoros archipelago. It is not known how the species reached these locations, though it was likely transported there by humans, possibly after
987-508: Is limited to the desert warthog , while the best-known and most widespread species, the common warthog (or simply warthog), is Phacochoerus africanus . Although covered in bristly hairs, a warthog's body and head appear largely bare, from a distance, with only a crest of hair along the back and the tufts on the face and tail being obvious. The English name "wart"-hog refers to their facial wattles , which are particularly distinct in males. The males also have very prominent tusks , which reach
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#17327870817131034-467: Is now realised that the disease is actually transmitted by the tick Ornithodoros moubata , and that elimination of warthogs in order to try to protect domestic swine serves no useful purpose. The desert warthog is an important host of the tsetse fly , and in some parts of its range efforts are being made to reduce warthog numbers because of this. Specifically, P. aethiopicus was the preferred host for Glossina swynnertoni and G. pallidipes in
1081-434: Is scarce, and even carrion . They sometimes eat dung, including their own, and will tear bark from trees. Females come into oestrus every six weeks in the breeding season, which usually coincides with the end of the rainy season between March and May. Their frequent urination leaves scent markers that inform males of their receptive state. The gestation period is about 170 days and a litter of usually two or three piglets
1128-532: Is sometimes a main target of poaching for bushmeat. It is leaner than pork . Eradicating or controlling their numbers on the farm is quite difficult. They quickly learn to stay away from hunters, and will flee even when the hunter is still 200 metres away in thick bushveld. The best way to shoot one is to hide at one of its game trails towards a food source (called a 'restaurant') in the evening. Trapping also does not work easily, as bushpigs are wary of new and unfamiliar objects in their territories, and will avoid
1175-520: The Holocene epoch showing that two divergent lines of warthogs ( Phacochoerus spp.) were in existence thousands of years ago. The ancestors of the present day common warthog ( P. africanus ) had a different number of incisors than the ancestors of the desert warthog ( P. aethiopicus ) line. During the late nineteenth century, P. aethiopicus became extinct in South Africa. Subsequently, study of mDNA as well as morphological analysis has shown that
1222-423: The IUCN , split both the bushpig and the warthog into different species, and recognised numerous subspecies of all African hogs. The bushpig subspecies from West Africa ( porcus ), with more reddish hair, was seen as an independent species by him. Other authors have since continued to follow his interpretation of the bushpig. Because bushpigs had first been described from West Africa, this western taxon retained
1269-735: The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the desert warthog as being of " Least Concern ". This is because it is common in some parts of its range and the population is thought to be stable. It occurs in a number of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and it faces no significant threats although it may locally be hunted for bushmeat . It also faces competition at waterholes and for grazing with domestic livestock. [REDACTED] Media related to Phacochoerus aethiopicus at Wikimedia Commons [REDACTED] Data related to Phacochoerus aethiopicus at Wikispecies Bushpig The bushpig ( Potamochoerus larvatus )
1316-412: The giant forest hog ( Hylochoerus meinertzhageni ) in having facial warts and proportionately larger tusks. Desert warthogs can be differentiated from the common warthog by their distinctive facial features, including curled back tips at the end of the ears, lack of incisors , and generally larger snout. The suborbital areas in desert warthogs are swollen in the form of pouches that often extend to
1363-420: The Cape warthog, used to occur in the southeastern parts of Cape Province and the adjacent parts of Natal Province but became extinct around 1871. The habitat of the desert warthog is open arid countryside including thin woodland with scattered trees, xerophytic scrubland and sandy plains, but not upland areas. It needs regular access to waterholes and so may occur near villages and places where water seeps to
1410-471: The Congo (in the 1940s) also have. In Madagascar this might also be necessary to protect other native species. Such cullings have generally been unsuccessful. The IUCN first assessed the bushpig as ' not threatened ' in 1993, and ' lower risk ' in 1996. It was assessed as ' least concern ' in their Red List in 2008, the 2015 assessment is identical to the 2008 one. There is no international trade in
1457-616: The East African population of warthogs, previously thought to be a variant of the common warthog, are in fact surviving members of the putatively extinct P. aethiopicus . The desert warthog is a stockily-built animal growing to an average length of 125 centimetres (49 in) and weight of 75 kilograms (165 lb) with males being larger than females. It has a rather flattened head with distinctive facial paired protuberances ("warts") and large curving canine teeth that protrude as tusks . These are not present in juveniles but grow over
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1504-852: The Madagascar form is a feral introduction from East Africa, the East African subspecies needs to be renamed to larvatus . Nothing was known about the Somalian populations in 1993, which was why it was not recognised. Subspecies recognised in 2005 were: The main habitat requirement is dense cover: bushpigs avoid open forests or savannas. They can be found in forests with high trees, montane forests , forest fringes, thick bushveld , gallery forests , flooded forest, swampland or cultivated areas as habitat . They occur up to 4,000 metres in altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro . Bushpigs are quite social animals and are found in sounders of up to twelve members, usually three to five. A typical group will consist of
1551-465: The alpha sow will aggressively chase the young males off; she will do the same to a few one to two year old beta sows. Young males are socially mature at 30 months of age. Mating mostly occurs in late autumn to early winter. Farrowing may occur at any time of the year but there is a pronounced peak in the warmest part of the summer (from October to February in South Africa). The alpha sow builds
1598-411: The average was 720 hectare. Almost half the population consists of solitary wandering animals. Small bachelor groups of young males also form, these have ranges which overlay those of a few. The young males will avoid the sounders to escape confrontation. Litters of one to nine, usually three, young are born. From mating to the end of the gestation is a period of eight to ten months. After six months of age
1645-509: The base of the genal warts; these same areas in common warthogs have no such pronounced swelling. The species also has more strongly hook-shaped "warts", a more egg-shaped head, thickened zygomatic arches , and enlarged sphenoidal pits. The desert warthog is native to the Horn of Africa . Its current range extends from southeastern Ethiopia through western Somalia to eastern and Central Kenya. The subspecies P. a. aethiopicus , commonly known as
1692-415: The course of a few years. They are larger in males than in females. The body is sparsely covered with bristly hairs and a more dense region of hairs runs along the spine and forms a crest. The tail is long and thin and is tipped with a small brush of coarse hair. The general colour is mid to dark brown but the crest is sometimes whitish. The desert warthog differs from the bushpig ( Potamochoerus porcus ) and
1739-456: The day. They never hide in aardvark burrows. Leopards are their main predator; combating leopards has increased bushpig numbers. Bushpigs are very aggressive and extremely powerful. In one case a game scout was forced to spend three days in a tree avoiding a stalking bushpig. Wounded bushpig are very dangerous; their spoor should not be followed alone. They are fast, and can swim well. Bushpig will range up to 4 km from their hide in
1786-403: The name P. porcus , whereas all the other bushpig subspecies needed a new name. Bushpigs from the island of Madagascar had been described as a new species in 1822 by Frédéric Cuvier , P. larvatus , but were reduced to a subspecies of the bushpig when it was realised they were the same as those of mainland Africa. As Cuvier's publication had the oldest available name for the animals, this became
1833-506: The new Latin name for the other bushpig subspecies. P. larvatus is very closely related to P. porcus , the bushpig from West Africa also known as 'red river hog', with which it can interbreed, although others dispute this. It is distinguished from the western pig by having a less reddish hair colour and the hair being coarser, longer and less dense. Some pig populations in Uganda display physical characteristics intermediate between
1880-516: The pig and swine family ( Suidae ) native to the Horn of Africa region of East Africa . Two subspecies have been named: the Cape warthog ( P. a. aethiopicus ), which became extinct around 1865, had once inhabited South Africa , while the extant Somali warthog ( P. a. delamerei ) is largely found in Kenya and Somalia , some areas of Ethiopia , and potentially still inhabits parts of Djibouti and Eritrea . Fossils have been found from
1927-407: The presence of P. aethiopicus may be more or less of a problem, depending on whether their associated Glossina can be controlled, which varies widely with the availability of specific attractants . Warthogs are prolific breeders and research is being performed into their breeding and recruitment patterns as a means of deciding how best to control them. In its Red List of Endangered Species ,
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1974-416: The ranges of two different groups overlap, each may use the same burrow on different occasions. The groups do not interact to any great extent. Desert warthogs are diurnal and are largely herbivorous . One of the older females leads the group and they forage for grasses, leafy plants, flowers and fruit. They dig up rhizomes, edible tubers and bulbs with their snouts and tusks and will eat insects when food
2021-413: The rest of the group to danger. They may freeze initially but then rely on their speed to escape. They can travel for short distances at 55 kilometres (34 mi) per hour as they run to the safety of one of their burrows. The young dive in head first but the older animals reverse direction and back in so that they can defend themselves with their tusks. The juveniles become sexually mature at one to one and
2068-499: The shoulder, and mature boars can reach a weight of 150 kg (330 lb), although 60 to 80 kg (130 to 180 lb) is more common. Sows are 45 to 70 kg (99 to 154 lb). They resemble the domestic pig, and can be identified by their pointed, tufted ears and face mask. Bushpigs vary in hair colour and skin colour over their range, southern koiropotamus and nyasae populations are dark reddish, sometimes almost black. The coat colour darkens with age. Their heads have
2115-452: The surface in otherwise dry areas. Desert warthogs live in social groups called "sounders" consisting mostly of females and their offspring while males tend to live in solitude or form bachelor groups. A sounder occupies a home range of about 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) which is usually centred on a water hole. The warthogs dig a number of burrows, or take over holes excavated by other animals, and move from one to another. Where
2162-517: The two species. P. porcus may sometimes aggregate in larger sounders than P. larvatus . In the zone between the western forms and the other bushpigs, i.e. in DR Congo and South Sudan , it remained unclear which populations belonged to which species in 1993, although the IUCN now assigns them to this species. Subspecies recognised in 1970 were: Grubb recognised four subspecies in 1993: If
2209-427: Was extinct by around 1865. The genus Phacochoerus contains two species. The two species emerged from ecological barriers. P. africanus were found with a lack of upper incisors, while P. aethiopicus were found with a full set. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Phacochoerus aethiopicus The desert warthog ( Phacochoerus aethiopicus ) is a mammalian , artiodactyl - ungulate species of
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