Bush Pig Species Profile: The Secretive Nocturnal Wild Pig of Forest and Thicket

Visitors often see warthogs trotting across the plains with tails held high, but few see a bush pig, which prefers dense vegetation near water and hides away by day. A sighting is usually a fleeting glimpse at night in the headlights or a family at a forest edge at dusk.

This profile explains how to identify it, what it eats and how it lives. Compare it with the warthog and read about nocturnal wildlife in night drives and walking safaris.

This guide is part of our animals of Uganda and East Africa guide. When you are ready to plan, see our Uganda safari packages or the Ameera Africa Safaris Uganda tours homepage.

Identification

The bush pig has a stocky body, a long head with a flat snout disc, small ears tipped with tufts of long hair, and a coat that ranges from reddish-brown to dark grey-brown. A pale crest of long bristles runs along the back from the head to the rump and can be raised when the animal is excited. The face often has whitish patches and ridges. Adults have no big warthog facial warts, and the tusks are short and not prominent. The tail is thin with a tuft at the end, and is not carried upright when running.

Distinguishing It From Look-Alikes

Warthogs have large warts, big curved tusks and a tail they hold upright, and they are active in the day on open ground. Bush pigs are more compact in the face, wear a mane of bristles and prefer cover. In parts of western Uganda and central Africa, the red river hog, a closely related and brightly coloured pig, may be encountered in forest and some taxonomies treat the two as close relatives. Ask your guide for what is expected in your area. Giant forest hogs are far rarer and larger.

Habitat and Range

Bush pigs live in a wide range of habitats with thick cover: forest edges, thickets, riverine woodland, reedbeds, swamp margins and farmland near bush. They need water and shelter and avoid open plains and dry deserts. They are widespread in eastern and southern Africa, including highland forests in Kenya and Tanzania, but they are secretive wherever they occur. Dense habitat and nocturnal habits make them seem rare even where they are common.

Behaviour and Social Life

Bush pigs live in groups called sounders, typically led by a dominant boar and including sows and young. They sleep through the day in dense cover, sometimes in nests of grass, and emerge after dark to forage. They are wary and can be aggressive when cornered, defending young with slashing tusks, so keep distance. They communicate with grunts and squeals and use well-worn paths through the vegetation. Sounders may range widely in search of food.

Diet

Bush pigs are omnivores. They root with their snouts for tubers, bulbs and roots, eat fruit, seeds, fungi and fallen nuts, graze on shoots, and take insects, eggs, small animals and carrion when available. They also raid crops such as maize, potatoes and cassava, which brings them into conflict with farmers. Their digging turns soil and can help seed dispersal. See how other omnivores forage in the baboon profile.

Breeding and Predators

Females build a nest of grass for farrowing and give birth to several piglets, which are striped when very young. The sow guards them fiercely. Predators include leopards, lions, spotted hyenas and large pythons, and leopards in particular take bush pigs where both occur. Farmers also hunt them as pests, so persistence in farmland depends on cover and tolerance. Read the leopard profile for predator behaviour.

Where and How to See a Bush Pig

Chances are modest, so treat any sighting as a bonus. Night drives and walks where allowed offer the best opportunity, as do forest-edge lodges with floodlit clearings, and dawn or dusk around thickets in parks such as Lake Manyara, the Aberdares and forest areas of Queen Elizabeth. Ask lodges about night viewing. Use a red-filter torch if your guide supplies one, keep quiet and stay in the vehicle. See also the East Africa wildlife guide and Uganda night drives and night walks.

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Related Tours, Guides and Resources

• Ameera Africa Safaris homepage: Uganda safaris, tours and holidays
• Uganda safari packages
• Uganda travel guide
• How to book a Uganda safari
• Plan your safari with our team