Plenty Of Pigs

Bushpig (Bosvark - Potamochoerus larvatus) in the Woody Cape section of Addo Elephant National Park

The Woody Cape is home to plenty of Bushpig. These hairy pigs seems to be pretty common, yet very elusive. Signs of their digging can be found everywhere and they seem to be the second most camera trapped mammal thus far.

A Bushpig putting his nose to work

They use their hard snouts to dig through the damp soft soil looking for roots, bulbs, etc. However they also eat leaves and being true pigs they have an omnivorous tendency to indulge in anything from insects and frogs, to carrion and small lambs. They also have a sweet tooth for fruit.

Sniff sniff sniff sniff...

They are for the most part nocturnal. In fact I haven't photographed any in daylight yet at the Woody Cape. They live in groups of around 4-10 individuals. I've some photographs with at least 5 animals visible at once.

"OK guys, I'm sure I dropped my earring somewhere around here... Just keep looking..."

A group usually consists of a dominant male and female. The male is usually in charge of a few other females and youngsters as well. However you can also find loners or bachelor groups. The males are slightly bigger than the females.

I like it when some of the photographs show the underside of the animal's foot/paw/etc.

The Bushpig in this neck of the woods are pretty hairy! Most of them also have a rich orange-brown base colour, with a white mane. They have longer black hair over most of their body. I think they look rather nice (for pigs) in colour, but on the grey scale infrared Bushnell's they look much worse.

Missing half a tail.

This individual, above, seems to have lost part of it's tail. Bushpig can be fierce when wounded or trapped. They are at home in the thickets of the Eastern Cape.

I'm starting to suspect these guys are in fact elves in disguise!

Their weird elf-like ears and hairy appearance give them an interesting look. I'm sure I'll get plenty more photographs of these hairy swine!

The guys put their heads together and decided that this should be the end of the blog post...