EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

What Warthogs Do

Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), Family Suidae
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Explanation:   Wallowing in a muddy mess.  But this is an important key ecological function of common warthogs, here in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, east Africa.  

Wallowing is done by a number of large mammal species in ecosystems throughout the world.  Aside from our tusked friend here, some key "wallowers" include American bison of western North America, hippopotamuses in east Africa, Asian and African elephants, African buffalos, even swamp deer of India, and many others. 

Here, an Egyptian Goose is after plants or insects
associated with a warthog wallow in Ngorongoro Crater. 

Wallowing maintains openings in forests and savannas, with waterholes and wetland conditions that provide resources and habitats for a wide variety of other species including shorebirds, smaller ungulates, mongooses, and lots else.  

Wallowing also provides the animals with a way to cool off during hot days, an activity that ecologists term behavioral thermoregulation.  A nice coat of mud also can serve as protection from ultraviolet radiation and sunburn, as well as protection from biting insects.  

Why did the warthog
cross the road?

To get to the other wallow.

Not quite a wallow, this warhog stops for a sip,
showing its typical posture when feeding or drinking,
having to drop onto its front knees.

In the wild boar, a cousin of the warthog, wallowing is done apparently more by larger, dominant males, which might also serve as a sign of reproductive readiness.  


So appearances are not everything.  Performance counts.  As with the ecological functions of this keystone wallower.

  
   
Information:
     Fernández-Llario, P.  2005.  The sexual function of wallowing in male wild boar (Sus scrofa).  Journal of Ethology 23(1):9-14.  
     Jarman, PJ.  1972.  The use of drinking sites, wallows and salt licks by herbivores in the flooded Middle Zambezi Valley.  African Journal of Ecology 10(3):193-209.
     Vanachoenwinkel, B, A Waterkeyn, T Nhiwatiwa, T Pinceel, E Spooren, A Geerts, B Clegg, and L Brendonck.  2011.  Passive external transport of freshwater invertebrates by elephant and other mud-wallowing mammals in an African savannah habitat.  Freshwater Biology 56(8):1606-1619.