Bushpig |
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Unique Features
Despite their cumbersome appearance, bushpigs are surprisingly fleet-footed and good swimmers. Their activities are mainly nocturnal. They sleep during the day in dense bush or undergrowth, scraping a resting place with their feet, or trampling tall grass down into a bed. Eating Habits Bushpigs are omnivorous. Although they prefer to eat mainly roots, bulbs grass and wild fruit, they also eat birds' eggs, reptiles, insects and carrion. They also enjoy foraging around in elephant dung where they find and eat undigested seeds. They also follow troops of monkeys for the half-eaten fruit they drop. Familiy Ties Bushpigs are gregarious and run in sounders (the term used for a family of bushpigs or warthogs) of 5 to 20 animals.The sounder is usually made up of the boar, its sow and their offspring. Predators The bushpig's most important enemy is the leopard, although occasionally hunted by lion. The boar is the sounder's main defence against predators. Boars are extremely aggressive and powerful and at the first sign of danger, the boar usually sounds the alarm and the rest of the sounder runs for cover, usually in a thick undergrowth. The wedge shape of the bushpig's body allows it to penetrate the thickest bush or undergrowth where most predators cannot follow. Habitat Bushpigs prefer dense bush or vegetation, preferably close to rivers, and also riverine forests. Breeding Habits Three to four piglets per litter are born after a gestation period of 4 months. |