Snapshot Serengeti Talk

Warthog tusks

  • Wolbo by Wolbo

    Just wondering what the big tusks on this warthog are for. The way they are shaped, curved backwards and inwards, suggest they are not primarily suited for offensive combat. Are they perhaps for defensive purposes?

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  • craigpacker by craigpacker scientist

    The male has much more impressive tusks than the female -- but both sexes have long enough tusks to deter predators. We sometimes see lions try to pull warthogs up out of their burrows, and they are quite intimidated by the tusks -- pigs enter their burrows butt-first so they can keep their tusks pointed out towards danger!

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  • tirralirra by tirralirra

    Aaah... so they work like shields.

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  • ahjorth by ahjorth

    I hear warthogs are very dangerous. If they decide to charge you, they can really hurt you.

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  • Ksiusia by Ksiusia

    I saw dirt clods on the tusks of a warthog in one of the captures--maybe they use them for digging.

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  • davidbygott by davidbygott moderator

    Mostly they dig with their nose. The males' larger tusks combined with their larger and more numerous protective 'warts' suggest to me that the tusks are important in fights between males. Craig, would you agree?

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  • craigpacker by craigpacker scientist

    Yes, the male warthogs do fight with their tusks -- male horns/tusks are usually about twice as thick as female horns/tusks -- males fight with other males, so they have to be strong enough to withstand and equal but opposite force whereas females more generally use their weapons to defend their young against predators and are therefore straighter, thinner and sharper!

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