Wild Facts

Photo from Wikimedia

You made it just in time for the last Wild Fact of the week.  Okay, so there is still plenty of time to read today’s fact since it will be archived for years but I just wanted a catchy opening line today. We are headed to the desert and shrub-lands of Africa to learn about the Warthog.  There are two different species of Warthog.  The first is the Common Warthog which can usually be found in the northern parts of Africa while their cousin, the Desert Warthog is found in the southern region. We will just be looking at the general characteristics for both Warthog species.

The Warthog is a large sturdy member of the pig family that probably won’t be winning any beauty contests anytime soon.  One of their downfalls to victory include the “warts” found on their large, flat head.  Just so you know these are not actual warts but instead protective bumps.  That sounds like something a mother would say to her warty child.  It is probably safe to assume that these “warts” lead to the name of this particular pig species.

I urge you to use caution if you are planning on poking fun at the unusual appearance of the Warthog.  Although they are grazers and not nearly as aggressive as they look, I wouldn’t want to test them.  They have four sharp tusks and the power and knowledge to use them.  These tusks can be used for self-defense but they also make surprisingly great shovels.  The Warthog will often use them to dig burrows or to get to the bulbs and roots of plants.  Who would have thought that a pig would be so proficient at digging?

Photo by D. Gordon & E. Robertson (Wikicommons)

If you are lucky enough to see one Warthog there is probably a good chance you will see more.  This is because these pigs prefer the company of other individuals so they form small family groups called sounders.  Generally these families will have a few females with their young and one male who will protect the group and mate.  What most scientific papers fail to mention is how this poor male never gets to kick back and watch football or hang out with the guys since he has several females and kids to protect.  It is a tough life for the male Warthog.

Warthog Fast Fact – Although they have the large tusks and are capable of defending themselves the Warthog usually relies on its speed to escape the clutches of their predators.  Just how fast can this large pig run?  Would you be surprised if I told you they are capable of running 48 km/hr (30 mph).  Not too shabby for a pig.

Thanks for following Wild Facts this week.  I hope all of you have an exciting weekend.

I promised all of you that we would head back from Australia and I didn’t lie.  Today we land back into North America and the first animal we see when we get off the plane is a Collared Peccary.  I know it may seem weird to see a collared peccary hanging around in a city but they are actually well adapted to living in the suburbs.  Anyone know where in North America we just landed? We landed somewhere in Southwestern USA! Perhaps, Texas, Arizona or New Mexico.  The Collared Peccary can be found in Central and South America as well.

The collared peccary is often referred to as a pig, however, it is no longer classed in the pig family.  I still think it looks like a pig though! Anyone have ideas what this pig-like animal eats? Well, I can tell you that this little piggy doesn’t eat roast beef.  Instead it prefers to forage on fruit, roots, grasses, insects as well as small reptiles. One of the other main sources of food for this cute, little peccary happens to be prickly pears.  It may be a tough food item to swallow but the prickly pear has a very high water content which is crucial for an animal living in Southwestern USA.

The nice thing about viewing the collared peccary is the fact that you will get to see several at one time.  They actually like to form a band of 6 to 12 animals although a larger group of 50 has also been recorded. Interestingly enough, these bands have a hierarchy in which a male collared peccary will usually be dominant while the rest of the “pecking” order is determined by size. Only the old and the wounded animals don’t band up since they prefer to die in solitude.  Other than dying though, the group does everything together.

Collared Peccary Fast Fact: The collared peccary is also known as the “Javelina” which is Spanish for javelin or spear.  They received this secondary name due to their razor sharp tusks.

Another week of Wild Facts is in the books!  Have a great weekend everyone and I will see you back here first thing Monday morning.