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Are they relatively common in the north or would you struggle to find them? We saw quite a lot around Skukuza.

Another Skukuza tusker, Skukuza is the best place to see them!

Just past Kruger Gate.

Came across this Warthog, not in Kruger but in a KZN reserve, but thought its was interesting to see the extent of the injury it had suffered with no apparant ill effect, oher than a nasty looking scar.

This was just bizarre. We have just returned from the KNP. 1- 4 May 2008. On the second day 2 May 2008 we have travelled to Orpen. (Great revamp of the camp.) About ten kilometres from the gate we have sighted something that puzzles me very much.

Three jackals were circling a family of 5 warthogs around a carcass about 40metres from the road. (We have taken pictures and a videoclip.) The binoculars revealed that the carcass was that of a dead jackal. The warthogs were eating the carcass of the jackal!!! Even the three small ones were tucking in. We did not see how the jackal was killed but the warthogs were quite agressive chasing the jackals away from the carcass then again feeding from the carcass. The young ones were very aggresive chasing the jackals. Eventually the jackals got to the carcass away from the warthogs and frantically ate what was left of the dead jackal. The warthogs then wandered off eating their vegetables later, I presume.

I have never heard that warthogs eat meat. Are they therefore classified as omnivores. Or is this a bad family

Hi One-a-B,

Warthogs are omnivores, they mostly feed on grasses, roots , fruits and other such vegetation, but they will also eat carrion if they happen to come across it in the veld, but they will not "catch" the animal, only if it is already dead will they eat it.

I have never seen this in the park so therefore i would also have been confused....but thanks oddesy5466 for that interesting explination!

oddesy is right, except for the fact that this is recorded about once a decade in the Park, and the first off a dead predator, as far as memory serves! Well done One-a-B!

What is even more unique, is the jackal cannibalising, something I've never heard of! Probably a reaction to the whole event!?

Thanks for the feedback. I am trying to downsize the picture. Once done I will post it on the forum. Never too old to learn or experience something new especially in the KNP.

Just a bit of an addition. Warthogs need a lot of protein in their diet. One is therefore much more likely to see them eating carrion as you go into winter when the quality of the vegetarian component of their diet deteriorates. They are also an indicator species as their health quickly deteriorates if there is a problem with the quality of the veldt.

A friend witnessed this over the weekend - amazing incident - have seen the photos.

Hi all,

I heard a Question the other day and I do not think the Answer that was given was right.

Here is the question

The Warthog has tusks made of?

There were 4 Answers

A) Ivory
B) Bone
C) White whiskers that are shaped like tusks
D) It has no tusk

What do think the answer should be?

Shangri-la (Interesting book, read it long ago, btw)

Relatively new to the forums and reading through I came on your following un-answered question:



First of all, as you know by now, #D is wrong, as they have tusks - that you can see on all the photos. BTW, speaking of the photos and some of the tuskers shown, the longest tusks ever recorded was 60.96 cm along the ourside curve. Now THAT musta been a sight! But of course anywhere between one-third up to as much as half of the tusk is buried in the skull.

But despite those upper tusks looking dangerous and formidable, it is actually the lower tusks that are the dangerous ones. Similar to hippo, they are actually constantly sharpened by grinding against the upper tusks.

Getting back to your question, #C is also wrong. There they refer to the rhino, whose horn is not horn, but hair. But also to the white whiskers just behind the upper tusk which, if one looks quickly, can be mistaken for the tusks.

As far as I know the answer is actually #A. The tusk is also made of ivory, but of different texture than that of the elephant.

Hope that helps.

Warthogs Canine Teeth eventually grow and form tusks...used for fighting and rooting

Hi all!

Warthogs were seen 2 TIMES at ORPEN cam today!