Warthogs

Selecting plants to place inside the new animal habitats provided additional challenges, Carter explains, especially with the new warthogs. Like most swine, warthogs will eat almost anything. Insects, roots, shoots, bulbs, leaves, grasses and even small invertebrates make up a wild warthog’s diet.

“We planted things we hope they won’t destroy – yuccas, bushes with thorns, grass and trees that we hope they won’t tear up,” Carter says.

Warthogs are also prolific diggers, and use their muscular snouts to root for food and to create wallowing holes. To prevent the warthogs’ escape, the Zoo installed a twofoot- deep buried footing around the perimeter of their enclosure. In their natural environment, warthogs employ their great sense of smell to sniff out buried treats. If they discover a large stash of buried food, they often shuffle along on their bent front knees while digging for it.

Littermates Lilith and Rebecca, while a bit shy after arriving from the Toronto Zoo, quickly adapted to their new habitat after a brief quarantine period. They immediately began exercising their excavation skills to customize their new digs. They now give visitors a chance to see this familiar African grasslands species in action. Like all warthogs, Lilith and Rebecca prefer to forage in the morning and late afternoon, making those good times to visit and observe them.