Warthogs are members of the pig family from Africa.
Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) in the Toronto Zoo.
For some reason the word warthog conjures up images of ugliness — well, they do sort of look like as if someone has managed to cross a hyena with a pig. But they aren’t particularly ugly — I would say they even look beautiful in a warthog-ish way.
Warthogs live in burrows, often in burrows abandoned by other animals such as aardvarks.
Warthogs eat a mostly vegetarian diet only occasionally supplemented by eating a small animal, and during the dry season they can go without water for a while.
Warthogs have huge tusks and they look ferocious and in fact they can put up a fight against predators. Warthog tusks can be used as ivory.
Warthog after a mud bath.
Warthogs are nice social animals and they live together in groups called sounders. Female warthogs will even nurse the piglets of other females in the same sounder if they loose their own. Like I said, in spite of people’s opinion of them warthogs are one of the nicest animals, at least to each other. Just go to your local zoo (it they even have warthogs) and observe them for a few minutes.
For Harry Potter fans: Hogwarts is an anagram for warthogs.
Further Readings:
Amazing pictures show epic fight between lion and warthog.
A good description of the Warthog on the San Diego Zoo website.
Warthog on Africa Wildlife.