African Bush Pig

Just at the back of the buildings that comprise Saadani Safari Lodge on the coast of Tanzania there's a 'hide', which consists of a roofed platform raised on stilts with seating accommodation. It overlooks a small waterhole, very inviting to wild animals especially in the dry season, yet most of Saadani's visitors don't seemed prepared to sit and wait to see what turns up, preferring the morning or evening game drives in a Land Rover, looking for something exciting.

In fact, plenty of very exciting things come to the waterhole and can be seen at very close quarters, if one is prepared to sit and be patient. One of the more frequent visitors are warthog, usually in small families and occasionally as lone individuals, like this male.

In the heat of one afternoon during our 2012 visit to Tanzania, what looked like a warthog crossed the clearing, heading for the lodge's kitchen. For a moment it looked like yet another wart hog, but it wasn't. In all my years of watching African game, this was the first and only time I have seen an African Bush Pig. It went through so quickly I only snatched a photograph.

I did wonder whether it had friends in the kitchen but bush pigs have a nasty reputation and can be very dangerous, unlike warthogs which are often found wandering around villages. They are also usually nocturnal, so this was an unusual sighting.