Warthog - Breeding

The beginning of the mating season coincides with the beginning of the rainy season. When the female is in heat, the male follows her everywhere, circling her and making peculiar grunting noises until she is ready to mate. When the female becomes pregnant, she leaves her family and makes a den in an area where there are no warthogs. She gives birth usually to 2-4 young, although litters of up to 7 have been recorded. As the warthog only has four teats, she has a difficult time if she has to try to feed more than four young.

The young are greyish-pink in colour, and are very sensitive to the cold, so they huddle together for the first few days after birth. The mother leaves the den to feed but returns to suckle the young at midday and dusk. After a week, the young make their first short trips outside the den, and are eventually able to forage on their own, returning to the burrow at night.