Warthogs live in Africa’s southern Sudan and southwestern Ethiopia, in savanna woodland and grasslands—and they are not picky about their homes. Instead of digging their own burrows, they find abandoned aardvark holes or natural burrows for homes. This is where they raise their young, sleep, and hide from predators.
Like most swine, warthogs are not picky eaters. They’ll gobble up grass, roots, berries, tree bark, and even dead animals! As you might suspect when you look at their big snout, warthogs are good sniffers. It’s easy for them to smell things underground that they might want to eat.
Warthogs often kneel down on their front legs and use their muscular snout to dig up dinner. They even shuffle along in the kneeling position if there are plenty of tasty things in the area.
Warthog females, called sows, are much more social than the males, called boars. They stay in groups of up to 40 with their young, called piglets. The sows communicate with all sorts of grunts, chirrups, growls, snorts, and squeals. These vocalizations can be greetings, threats, and warnings, among other things. The sows also like to rest close together and will even groom each other.
