One to six piglets are born (rarely more) and they will stay hidden in the burrow for up to two months. After this period they will follow the mother everywhere, keeping very close to her in the beginning.

In areas where there is no defined wet and dry season breeding takes place year round and in areas where there are defined seasons breeding will be seasonal and birthing is around the time of the dry season.

Daylight

Warthogs are diurnal animals (seldom nocturnal), retiring to burrows before dark. They will move into the first unoccupied burrow they come to. Warthogs will turn around when reaching a burrow and back into the hole. This has been explained as away to stand up to a predator that is following it.

Another explanation is that porcupines also use the burrows and by backing in the warthog will not get quills in the eyes. The warthogs mostly use burrows that have been excavated by aardvark. They are useful diggers themselves and have been observed excavating their own burrows. There is a debate as to whether warthogs occur in areas where aardvarks are absent.

Predators

Although warthogs are an important prey species for many predators they seem to have the least fear when it comes to predators. They are one of the few animals that will move directly to a waterhole to drink without looking around.

Most species will take their time, making sure that it is safe for them before proceeding. Warthogs are known to face predators head-on. Lions will seldom attack a warthog that is facing them.

I once observed a lioness chasing a warthog across the Chobe floodplain in Botswana. When the lioness was within touching distance the warthog turned abruptly and faced her. She stopped, turned and walked away. The warthog then trotted off in the opposite direction.

Food

Warthogs feed on a variety of plants. In times of plenty they will feed mostly on grass. During dry times they will eat roots and bulbs which they are very adept at digging out. They will also eat fruit when available.

Warthog are often recorded eating the dung of elephants. The dung is generally still fresh. An explanation for this is the fact that elephant do not digest a lot of their food and this leaves a lot of nutrition in their dung. As it is partially digested it provides the perfect food source for warthogs and other animals.

Warthogs have been observed feeding at carcasses. What can often be misconstrued as a warthog eating meat is actually the warthog feeding on the stomach contents of the dead animal. These contents are partially digested and still have a lot of nutrition in them. There are accounts of warthogs feeding on meat. No reason has been given for this behaviour.

Mating

Mating can be comical in that a male will follow a female in oestrus whilst making loud clicking sounds. These sounds are presumed to be made by the tusks, although some researchers have mentioned that they are made by the tongue.

What the sound does do is produce a huge amount of saliva and this seems to stimulate the male. A male will stay mounted on the female for a long time (I have personally observed mating that lasted over an hour). During this time other warthog will come and nuzzle the female. It is not known why this is done.

Piglets

One to six piglets are born (rarely more) and they will stay hidden in the burrow for up to two months after which they will follow the mother everywhere, keeping very close to her in the beginning.

In areas where there is no defined wet and dry season breeding takes place year round. In define seasonal areas breeding will be seasonal and birthing will occur around the time of the dry season.

Savuti

In Savuti, I observed a young male warthog mounting a female. There were three babies with the female that were reacting in a strange way. After a while they ran toward some bushes where two big males were engaged in a fight.

The fight had obviously been going on for a while as both males were both bleeding. One of the youngsters nudged one of the males. The male looked in the direction of the female and made one last thrust at the other male.

This final smack was enough and the opposing male ran off. The dominant male then turned on the male who was mating with the female. After a short scuffle the young male disappeared at speed into the mopane.