Phacochoerus africanus

The Common warthog is today's #MammalCrushMonday !!!! A wild member of Suidae, the pig family. Their skulls are most notably identified by two pairs of tusks protruding from their upper and lower jaw. They also have a set of canine teeth that can grow up to 10 inches, which aid the tusks in defense, and digging for food.

Warthogs have an omnivorous diet, and are the only pig species adapted to savanna habitats, eating grasses, roots, fruits, fungi, insects, eggs, and carrion. When foraging for food, they often kneel on their front legs using their snouts to dig for their meal, or for their burrows.





Which brings me to rule #1 of Kenya, don't look down unknown holes. Warthogs often occupy abandoned burrows of aardvarks and like to come barreling out when least expected.

Common predators of the common warthog are humans, lions, leopards, and hyenas. So no, Pumba and Simba were not friends. So, whenever you see a warthog in the wild, you usually just see their tales sticking up like little warning flags as they trot away. (I personally like to imagine they are quite flatulent as they bounce off)
All warthogs have a sebaceous glans which they use to mark their territory. Females tend to stay in their sounder throughout their lives while males leave to find non-genetically related females to mate with. Males typically live alone and join sounders with estrous females during mating season.

Finally, shout-out to my dad, whose spirit animal is 100% Phacochoerus africanus.