A Warthog's Afternoon Snack

Just the other day I learned something new about warthogs. We were watching CTEN devouring a baby Impala with GOFA and two black-backed jackals looking on. It was a typical carcass scene, with CTEN crunching away happily and the two jackals sneaking in and stealing bits here and there when CTEN was too distracted to chase them off.  I was admiring the already shapely bulge of CTEN’s belly when a warthog entered the scene. If you’ve seen my previous posts, you’ve seen the video of a warthog chasing hyenas around at the den. Knowing that hyenas are wary of warthogs, I wasn’t too surprised to see a warthog startle CTEN and get her to warily move off the kill. I was quite shocked, however, when the warthog itself began to eat the carcass! It spent some time licking blood and rumen off the ground before beginning to nibble on the carcass and drag it around. CTEN looked as shocked as I felt, as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to run in and lunge at the warthog or keep a safe distance.  The black-backed jackals, true to their aggressive reputation, were much less wary. One of them ran up and bit the warthog on the back of the leg! I hope you guys enjoy the video. You will even get to see some bonus aggressions between CTEN and GOFA at the end. Fat CTEN was not going to let GOFA have one bite!