Chapter 9: Common warthog Phacochoerus africanus (Gmelin, 1788)87
2005; Cumming 2013; De Jong et al. 2016b, in preparation;
Swanepoel et al. 2016).
There is no historical record for the Karoo, South Africa,
where Cape warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus aethiopicus
(now extinct) was present until the 1870s (Cumming 2013;
Chapter 10 of this book).
Present Geographic Distribution
Phacochoerus africanus remains widespread but patchily distrib-
uted over much of its historic geographic distribution (= range;
Figure 9.1). The geographic limits of the four subspecies are
poorly understood. See the subspecies map in Vercammen and
Mason (1993).
Northern warthog Phacochoerus africanus africanus
Synonyms: barbatus, incisivus
Across Sahel from West Africa to west eastern Africa; south-
west Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea
on the Atlantic coast eastward to central Ethiopia and, prob-
ably, extreme north-west Kenya. Isolated populations in Aïr
Mountains, central Niger. Nile River may be a barrier between
P. a. africanus and P. a. massaicus in Uganda (Kingdon 1979;
Grubb 1993; Vercammen & Mason 1993; De Jong et al. 2016b,
in preparation).
Still present in south-west Mali, but range and abundance in
decline (Chardonnet 2001, personal communication). Nearly
extirpated from Niger (C.T. Hash, personal communication;
J. Newby, personal communication in Cumming 2013). Reports of
P. a f r i c a n u s in the Republic of Congo were never validated. If his-
torically present in that country, now likely extirpated (F. Maisels,
personal communication; E. Stokes, personal communication).
Eritrean warthog Phacochoerus africanus aeliani
Synonyms: aelianii, barkeri, haroia, sclateri
Apparently endemic to north Horn of Africa; coastal hin-
terland of Eritrea, Djibouti and, perhaps, extreme north-west
Somalia (Grubb 1993; Vercammen & Mason 1993; De Jong et al.
2016b, in preparation). Note Grubb (2005, p. 639) gives the year
in which P. a. aeliani was described by Cretzschmar as 1828. The
correct year is 1826.
Central African warthog Phacochoerus africanus massaicus
Synonyms: bufo, centralis, fossor
Central and eastern Africa; east Democratic Republic of
Congo eastward to Indian Ocean between Tana River, east
Kenya, and Zambezi River, central Mozambique. South-east
Democratic Republic of Congo southward through Zambia
to Cuando River in the south-west, and Zambezi River in
south. Presumably in extreme south-east Angola (Grubb 1993;
Vercammen & Mason 1993; De Jong et al. 2016b, in preparation).
Unclear if and where in Kenya P. a. africanus is replaced by
P. a. massaicus, but Tana River may be the barrier in the east and
the moist forests of the Highlands the barrier in the west (see map
on p. 236 in Kingdon 1979). Competition with P. aethiopicus may
be a limiting factor from the coast westward to Eastern (Gregory)
Rift Valley (see map for P. aethiopicus in Chapter 10 of this book).
Southern warthog Phacochoerus africanus sundevallii
Synonym: shortridgei
Northern southern African sub-region; south-west
Democratic Republic of Congo southward to central Namibia,
then south of Zambezi River eastward to Indian Ocean. The
southern limit is south Botswana to Tugela River in KwaZulu-
Natal, eastern half of South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho
(Skinner & Chimimba 2005; Cumming 2013; Boshoff et al.
2015; De Jong et al. 2016b; Swanepoel et al. 2016).
In South Africa, the range of P. a f r i c a n u s has expanded
since the 1970s due to introductions and reintroductions. Some
introductions have been into the former range of P. aethiopicus.
In Swaziland, P. a f r i c a n u s is a reintroduced species (Nyafu 2009;
Boshoff et al. 2015; Swanepoel et al. 2016).Abundance and Density
Although distribution and abundance of P. a f r i c a n u s have been
greatly reduced since the nineteenth century, this remains one
of Africa’s most widespread and common large mammals.
Density typically <4 ind./km^2. As expected, densities gener-
ally higher (>10 ind./km^2 ) in protected areas, with some sup-
porting >20 ind./km^2. Only four sites known where density is
>35 ind./km^2. Highest densities reported are 76 ind./km^2
(seasonally and locally) in south-east Tanzania (Rodgers 1984),
and 77 ind./km^2 in central south Kenya (Radke 1991). There are
many large areas of historic range in East Africa where P. a f r i c a n u s
is either absent or the density is <1 ind./km^2 (T. Butynski & Y. de
Jong, personal observation). See table 1 at: http://www.wildsolutions
.nl/phacochoerus/.
In 1999, there were about 250,000 P. a f r i c a n u s in Angola,
Zambia, and Tanzania southward to Cape (Cumming 2013). In
2016, there were about 22,250 in southern Africa (Mozambique,
Botswana, and Namibia southward to Cape) (Swanepoel et al.
2016). Estimates for other regions are not available, although it
would be surprising if the larger countries in the north-east of
the range (e.g. Kenya, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo,
South Sudan) did not each hold well over 10,000 individuals.Descriptive Notes
Information on the physical traits of Phacochoerus spp., and
on craniodental and external morphological features that
distinguish P. a f r i c a n u s from P. aethiopicus, are provided in
Chapter 10 of this book.
The skull of Phacochoerus africanus is large relative to size
of body. The braincase is short. The skull slopes forward from
forehead to nose. The forehead and rostrum are elongated and
flattened. Orbits are small with supraorbital ridges on inner
sides and set high and wide on head. This provides a wide field
of vision, especially while feeding, and makes the eyes difficult
to reach by the tusks of conspecifics during aggressive encoun-
ters (Figure 9.2). The supraoccipital crest is well developed to
support the large head. Paraoccipital processes are long, nearly
extending to the bottom of angle of the mandible. Sphenoidal
pits are deep, distinct, and located behind internal nares. The
mandible is deep and robust. Digastric and masseter muscles
are large to provide powerful lower jaw actions. Molars are
large, very hypsodont, with roots. There are two upper inci-
sors and four or six lower incisors. There are two pairs of tusks
(= canines) that are, on average, larger in males (upper tusks typ-
ically 12–20 cm long; record 61 cm) than in females (but can be.01112:33:32