Get ready for warts, rooting, dusting, and wallowing, with some mighty fine swine at Woodland Park Zoo. African warthogs, the wild pigs of the savanna, and critically endangered Visayan warty pigs, the punk rocking pigs native to the Philippines, are a rare sight in this hemisphere. Domestic pigs are a perennial crowd-pleaser at the Zoo's Family Farm, but these two exotic pig species provide a more exciting and educational experience at the zoo.
Your kids will enjoy learning all of the interesting facts about the lives of wild pigs. They live in highly social groups called "sounders," made up at the Zoo by a brother and sister warthog from Zoo Atlanta. The animals earned their name from the large facial warts on each side of their tusks. Seeing this warthog family will bring the information to life.
The warthog exhibit takes visitors to the moist and arid savannas of East Africa, in a 4.5 acre, award-winning African Savanna. It offers sweeping views dotted with giraffe, hippos, patas monkeys, and lions.
"Warthogs are a common sight on the African savanna," notes Martin Ramirez, a mammal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. "They have long legs to escape predators, and often are spotted sprinting very fast with their tails sticking straight up like little flagpoles."
The sounder of Visayan warty pigs is one male and two females from the Los Angeles Zoo, and they make their home in a broadleaf tropical forest landscape. It evokes the endangered species' fragile habitat in the Philippines, and is located in the Elephant Forest near the elephant pool.
Visayan warty pigs' are known for their distinctive head tufts, which resemble a punk hairdo. This look is even more prominent during breeding season, when males erect both tuft and mane for a larger, more impressive appearance.
Keeper chats and hands-on activities focused on warty pigs and warthogs are offered throughout the summer, and are free with zoo admission. To learn more about these animals, visit www.zoo.org.
