I took the photo above, in the grounds of the Chobe Safari Lodge campsite. The warthog was nosing around the tents and greedily gobbling up the lawn - green grass is rare in dry Botswana! The photo below is from a postcard I bought in Africa.
The warthog's most endearing habit is the way they trot away with their thin, tufted tail stuck straight up in the air like an antenna. They grow two sets of tusks: the upper ones curve outwards and upwards and grow as long as 60cm; the lower ones are usually less than 15cm long. Warthogs feed mainly on grass, but also eat fruit and bark. They are diurnally active and are often in groups with young. Old boars are often solitary. At night they live in burrows in the ground since they would be a tasty meal for any number of predators.
Life span: 15 years
Habitat: Savanna
Diet: Grazer
Predators: Lions, leopards
(Afrikaans: Vlakvark, Swahili: Ngiri)