Red River Hog / Potamochoerus porcus

On 29 September 2015, I had set my alarm clock for 6:30 am so that I could go on a birding walk with friends. Unfortunately, I didn't read the e-mail carefully enough, so hadn't seen that the meeting place was not where I thought. Of course, no one else showed up where I was, so I took myself off to the Calgary Zoo instead. I had planned on going there after the walk, anyway.

"Red river hogs are native to the rainforests and moist savannah woodlands of West and Central Africa. In the wild, their numbers are on the rise due to the hunting of their predators, including leopards. However, these hogs are also hunted for their meat and killed by farmers in retaliation for eating crops." From The Calgary Zoo website.

Young hoglets look rather like watermelons, with a striped pattern. In May 2015, four young hoglets were born. The link below shows a short video of the new arrivals.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-zoo-s-red-river-ho...

"Instantly recognisable for its bright rufous fur, the red river hog is undoubtedly the most strikingly coloured of all wild pigs. Despite being, on average, the smallest African pig, this species possesses a stocky body with powerful shoulders, and a large, wedge shaped head, enabling it to quickly root up tough vegetation. The ears are long and pointed, with prominent tufts, while the head is distinctively marked with white ‘spectacles’ around the eyes, and bears long, white whiskers. A conspicuous white mane also runs down the midline of the back. Like all wild pigs, the canine teeth form tusks, with the upper set measuring around 7 centimetres in length, while the lower set measure up to 19 centimetres. Males also have large warts in front of the eyes, which protrude by as much as four centimetres, but are usually obscured by facial hair. The red river hog’s most common vocalisation is a typical pig grunt, although individuals that are fighting or trapped produce a low squeal which develops into a roar-like sound." From Arkive website.

www.arkive.org/red-river-hog/potamochoerus-porcus/