Warthog in Kenya
Swahili: ngiri
Although there are a number of wild-pig species in Kenya, the one you’re most likely to see is the warthog is found in all the major parks — Amboseli, Masai Mara, Nairobi National Park, Tsavo West National Park, Meru National Park, Marsabit National Reserve and Samburu National Reserve.
The wart hog gets its name from the somewhat grotesque wart-like growths which grow on its face. They are usually found in family groups of a boar, a sow and three or four young. Their most (or perhaps only) endearing habit is the way they turn tail and trot away with their thin tufted tails stuck straight up in the air like some antenna.
The males are usually bigger than the females, measuring up to one metre and weighing as much as 100 kg. They grow upper and lower tusks; the upper Ones curve outwards and upwards and grow as long as 60 cm; the lower ones are usually less than 15 cm.
Wart hog live mainly on grass, but also eat fruit and bark, and, in hard times, will burrow with the snout for roots and bulbs. They rest and give birth in abandoned hill rows or sometimes excavate a cavity in abandoned termite mounds. The young are born in litters of up to eight, although two to four is far more usual.