Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications
We’re
just a little over a week away from officially debuting two species of wild pig at the zoo on May 5 and 6—Visayan warty pigs and African warthogs.
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Warthogs have moved into the zoo's African Savanna biome.
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When
new animals arrive at the zoo, they go through a standard 30-day quarantine.
Our newly arrived 1-year-old brother and sister warthogs—who came to us from
Zoo Atlanta—are wrapping up their quarantine now and have just been introduced
to their exhibit space so they can begin to acclimate to their new surroundings.
But
a big step for them before they could enter their exhibit space in the African
Savanna was to head off to the vets for a health check-up in order to be
cleared from quarantine.
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| Female warthog gets her check-up by our Animal Health team. |
The
warthogs recently completed their quarantine exams and got clean bills of
health. The two were weighed, had x-rays taken and blood drawn, and were
closely inspected to register the condition of their teeth, skin and other body
parts.
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| A quick dental inspection for the female warthog. |
Getting
all of this baseline data when they arrive is critical so we can track their
growth and any changes in their health over the years.
The
male warthog (pictured above) weighed in at just over 130 pounds—on the small
end for a warthog, but typical for a pig of his age. Male warthogs can grow to
as big as 330 pounds. Our little guy has a lot more grass, roots, tubers and
hay to eat before he gets there.
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| Warthogs explore their new exhibit space. |
A
group of wild pigs is called a sounder, and our sounder proved to be healthy
and is adjusting well. They finished up their quarantine and took their first
steps inside their exhibit just this past week, where they’ll have to learn through
experience about their new surroundings including testing some boundaries and
checking out the terrain. Their exhibit space—the former African wild dog
exhibit—is designed to evoke the arid
savannas of East Africa to which they are native.
The
official debut of the warthogs and our other new wild pigs, the Visayan warty
pig, is Sat., - Sun., May 5 and 6. Opening
weekend festivities will include free piggy banks at the ZooStores for the first
500 kids (ages 12 and under) each day, pig keeper talks, and special pig-themed
programs in Zoomazium.
We hope you’ll go hog wild with us!
All photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.
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