The comically-looking Warthog is a firm favourite for many visitors to South Africa’s wild places, who probably find it easy to relate to the lovable Pumbaa from Disney’s The Lion King movies. These large pigs – males weigh as much as 115kg – are tough in the extreme and can put those impressive tusks to good use defending themselves and their piglets.
Two tiny warthogs in a big, scary world
Warthog sow
Daddy Warthog showing off his impressive weaponry
Warthog
Warthog boar
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog sow
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog on the run!
Warthog
Warthogs inhabit open savannas, short grasslands, floodplains and semi-desert scrub, avoiding more densely vegetated areas (particularly forests and areas with long grass cover). They primarily feed on grass, roots, fruits, seeds and bark, but have been known to scavenge from carcasses and have even been recorded robbing cheetahs of their prey! They can go for long periods without water but will drink daily where it is available. They prefer feeding on very short growth and digging for morsels with their snouts, often going down on their knees for better access.
Family Portrait
Warthog cooling off in the midday heat
Warthogs at home in Bontle
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Warthogs
Warthog spa treatment
Warthog boar
Warthog going down on the knees to graze short grass
Warthogs drinking
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog enjoying a scratch after a mudbath
Warthog
Warthog family enjoying the green grass next to Lilydale’s swimming pool
Groups of Warthogs, called sounders, usually consist of related sows and young, sometimes accompanied by an adult boar and number up to 16 individuals, though the males are mainly solitary especially outside the breeding season. Warthogs are sedentary and will often remain in the same general area for most of their lives. They are diurnal in habit, taking shelter in the disused holes of other animals or in man-made culverts at night. They always enter these burrows backside first, so as to protect themselves with those formidable tusks. Warthogs love a mudbath and through their rolling in the stuff help to enlarge waterholes over many years. These pigs have excellent sense of smell and hearing but terrible eyesight, often relying on oxpeckers to give them advance warning of danger. They can run at speeds in excess of 40km/h, always with their thin tails held aloft like the aerial on a radio-controlled car!
Big warthog boar
Warthog
Warthog mudbath
Warthog cooling off in the midday heat
Warthogs on the run
Warthog family spa treatment
Warthog spa treatment
Warthog sounder
Warthog
Warthog after an altercation with a porcupine
Warthog sow at the mouth to her burrow
Warthog spa treatment
Warthog
Warthog
Little Warthogs
Little Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Sows give birth to between 1 and 8 (usually around 4) tiny piglets in their burrows during the spring and summer. Lactating sows will accept any piglets as their own. Warthogs feature on the menu of all Africa’s large predators, although adults will defend themselves and their young viciously with their tusks. Piglets are prone to dying of exposure to cold, wet conditions. Warthogs have a life expectancy of up to 20 years in the wild.
Happy family
Warthog piglets
Warthog family enjoying the mud
Cute warthog piglets
Radio-controlled warthogs
Newborn warthogs
Tiny, lost warthog piglet
Warthog piglets suckling
Warthog piglet
Warthog piglet
Playful warthog piglets at Mpila (photos of Joubert)
Playful warthog piglets at Mpila (photos of Joubert)
Playful warthog piglets at Mpila (photos of Joubert)
Warthog piglets suckling
Warthog approaching Senyati’s waterhole
Listed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN, it is estimated that there are at least 22,000 Warthogs in South Africa (and probably considerably more) where they seem to be expanding their range. There are free ranging populations of warthog in all South African provinces with the exception of the Western Cape. Good places to find Warthogs are the Addo Elephant, Kruger, Mapungubwe, Marakele, Mokala and Pilanesberg National Parks, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and Dinokeng and Ithala Game Reserves. Elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa Warthog populations are declining due to habitat loss, competition with livestock and severe hunting pressure, and are evermore being restricted to conservation areas.
Warthog
Warthogs investing in their future.
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog on the run
Warthog on Tshwene Drive
Warthog sow
Warthog
Warthog sounder
Warthog boar
Warthog
Warthog boar
Warthog piglets
Warthog piglet
Warthog piglets
Warthog piglets with their moms
Warthog piglets with their mom
Warthog piglets with their mom
Warthog
We’ve not often seen Warthogs at Mountain Zebra National Park on previous visits
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog piglets (photo by Joubert)
Warthog
Warthog
Warthogs
Warthog family
Lazy Warthog
Sleepy Warthog
Warthog drinking from a puddle after a quick rainshower
Warthog on the run towards Ubhejane waterhole (photo by Joubert)
Warthog sow
Warthog close-up (photo by Joubert)
Warthog sow
Warthog siblings
Warthogs wallowing
Warthogs wallowing
Warthogs wallowing
Warthog family
Warthog piglets
Warthog family
Thirsty Warthog family
Warthog
Warthog youngster with a mouth full of food
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Vervet Monkey and Warthog
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog hurrying to Stofdam
Warthog
Warthog
Warthogs (photo by Joubert)
Warthogs
Warthog (photo by Joubert)
Warthog
Warthog
Warthog (photo by Joubert)
Warthog babies
This warthog family almost ran straight into the jackal!
The Pied Crow is a distinctly cosmopolitan creature, adapting to almost any habitat and closely associating with humans and our wasteful activities wherever possible. They’re a common sight along roads, where they feed on road kills, and at slaughterhouses and dumpsites where they scavenge for discarded scraps. Apart from cleaning up after humans, Pied Crows include a wide selection of food items in their naturally omnivorous diet: insects and other invertebrates, small mammals, birds and reptiles, eggs, carrion, seeds, fruits, roots and mushrooms are all consumed, and they will mob large birds of prey to steal their food. They’ve even been known to kill lambs and sick sheep. Pied Crows have a wingspan of almost a metre and weigh around half a kilogram.
The Pied Crow is a sociable species, usually seen in pairs or small groups but at times coming together in enormous flocks numbering in the thousands at communal roosts or in response to an abundant food source. Both sexes work together in constructing nests of sticks and twigs in isolated tall trees or on telephone and electricity pylons and windpumps. Breeding takes place in spring and summer, when clutches of 3-6 eggs are incubated by the female for about three weeks. Both parents raise the brood, which fledges at about 45 days.
Thanks to an enormous distribution range covering almost all of Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, its close association with humans and a large and stable population, the Pied Crow is considered of least concern in conservation terms. In South Africa too they are spread over the entire country, being described as increasingly abundant.
Pied crows at the remains of the blesbok
Pied crows at the remains of the blesbok
Pied crows at the remains of the blesbok
Pied crows
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Flock of Rose-ringed Parakeets mobbing a Pied Crow
Flock of Rose-ringed Parakeets mobbing a Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crows
Pied Crow
Pied Crows
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow (Joubert’s photo)
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow (hoping for road kill?)
Pied Crow
Pied Crow
Pied Crow strutting his stuff!
But now the crows want to join in (photo by Joubert)
These tiny owls (75g weight, 30cm wingspan) are mainly nocturnal in habit (like most other owls), but are often also active during the day, especially in winter, and then its position is frequently given away by other birds mobbing it. It feeds primarily on a wide variety of invertebrates, but will also take small reptiles, eggs, birds, bats and rodents. Pearl-spotted Owlets nest in holes in trees in the springtime, lying 2 – 4 eggs. Pairs defend their territories year-round.
The Pearl-spotted Owlet is a common resident of the savannas and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa, and listed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN. In South Africa it is found from the north of Kwazulu-Natal through Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West Province to the Kalahari regions of the Northern Cape.
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet at Mlondozi
Pearl-Spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet showing back of head and fake eyespots
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet seen in Nossob
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet seen in Nossob
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pearl-spotted Owlet showing the dark “eye-spots” behind its head
The locally common Grey-headed Gull is the only species of their kind regularly encountered at open, shallow inland freshwater habitats in South Africa, though they are also found along the open coast and at lagoons and estuaries, and often in close association with human activities, scavenging on our waste. They do not wander far out to sea like many other gulls do. Their natural diet includes fish, molluscs, eggs and carrion. This is a medium-sized gull, weighing in at about 300g.
Grey-headed Gulls are gregarious and rarely seen alone. They also breed in tightly packed colonies, with nests positioned on the bare ground on islands or among clumps of vegetation. Though breeding activity has been recorded through most of the year, it reaches a peak in early winter. Clutches usually consist of 2 or 3 eggs.
It is estimated that there are more than 2000 breeding pairs of Grey-headed Gull in South Africa. Though they can be seen almost over the entire country, their biggest concentrations are to be found around Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, on the North Coast of Kwazulu-Natal and on the Highveld of the Free State, North West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces. Apart from our neighbouring countries, the Grey-headed Gull also has a patchy distribution throughout East and West Africa, Madagascar and parts of South America. The IUCN listst it as “Least Concern“.
Grey-headed Gulls are numerous on the beach
Grey-headed Gulls are numerous on the beach
Grey-headed gulls
Grey-headed gull in flight
Grey-headed gull taking flight at Cape Vidal’s beach
The Black Crake is a small (90g), diurnal species and not as shy as many of their close relatives, often emerging quite confidently into the open. They are mostly seen in pairs or small family groups, inhabiting densely vegetated wetlands and streams. These crakes subsist on aquatic invertebrates, small fish, frogs and tadpoles as well as seeds and waterplants.
Black Crakes breed throughout the year, with a peak in summer. The nest is a cup of plant material floating on or suspended just above the water, or built on the ground in a safe, densely vegetated area, in which between 2 and 6 (usually 3) eggs are laid and incubated for almost three weeks by both parents. While breeding they become extremely aggressive, even taking on birds much larger than themselves. Juveniles from previous broods often assist in raising the current clutch, which can fly from about 6 weeks old and become independent shortly thereafter.
The Black Crake occurs over all of Sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of the most arid areas. The IUCN estimates their population at 1-million and lists the species as least concern. In South Africa they are considered a common resident, absent only from the dry Karoo and Kalahari regions the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape Provinces.
Occurring over the entire country, most South Africans would be familiar with the Laughing Dove as a common garden bird (to the point of being considered a pest by many). They inhabit a wide range of habitats, avoiding only forests and deserts, and being very much associated with human habitation. They feed primarily on the ground, pecking up small seeds and to a lesser extent include fruit and insects in their diet.
Laughing Doves usually forage in pairs or small groups, though larger aggregations may form at abundant food or water sources. Nests, built by both parents, are flimsy constructions of twigs in trees, against buildings or under roofs, in which clutches of two eggs are incubated by both sexes. The eggs hatch after two weeks, and the chicks fledge after about the same time. They nest throughout the year, with a peak in spring and summer.
The Laughing Dove has a wide distribution across Africa, through the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent, with an apparently stable population estimated at as many as 8-million, which is why the IUCN considers the species to be of least concern.
The Chacma Baboon is the biggest wild primate occurring in South Africa. Males can weigh up to 50kg, while females are more lightly built and weigh up to 28kg.
Evil-looking juvenile Baboon
Pensive baboon
Baby baboon missing out on attention
Baboons abound along the Sabie
Baboon near Satara
Baboon smile
Young baboon
Chacma Baboon
Coy Baboon (photo by Joubert)
Baboons grooming
Sleepy Baboon
Baboon
Young Chacma Baboons
Baboons can be found in virtually any habitat, provided there is a reliable supply of drinking water and safe places to sleep at night (usually in the form of tall trees, cliffs or caves). They are equally easy to please when it comes to their diet, taking fruit, berries, grass, leaves, flowers, mushrooms, roots and tubers, insects, scorpions, snails, eggs, small birds, reptiles and mammals (including the lambs of antelope) and, along the coast, molluscs, crayfish, crabs, etc. Unfortunately they quickly learn that humans and their waste is an easy source of food, and in many reserves, towns and cities have become quite adept at raiding human habitations.
Bold baboons frequent the camp at Giant’s Castle
And then quickly grabbing a loaf of bread from an unguarded kitchen
Preparing for their early morning raid on the camp
Baboon
Baboon scratching for grass roots
Baboon acrobats
Baboons
Baboons are a common sight at Giant’s Castle
Thirsty Baboon
Surveying the landscape
Baboons taking a swim on a hot day
Baboon
Baboons at Umbondwe Picnic Spot
Chacma Baboon on a cliff-face
Baboons at Umbondwe Picnic Spot
Chacma Baboon
You stuck what in there!?
Baboons frequent the camp in the mornings
Chacma Baboons keep to large troops, some over 300 animals in size, in which a strict hierarchy is maintained, sometimes through violent fights. This dominance hierarchy determines where an individual will feature when it comes to access to food, water, sleeping spots and mating partners. They also forge alliances and friendships strengthened by mutual grooming. Lower ranking adult males take turns to act as sentinels on the look-out for danger. Chacma Baboons are diurnal and mainly terrestrial and troops can cover as much as 15km in a day while foraging. Because they have such keen senses Baboons are often accompanied by other herbivores.
Bold baboons frequent the camp at Giant’s Castle
Baboon
Time for some mutual grooming before the game begins
Playful baboons at Kumasinga
Playful baboons at Kumasinga
Playful baboons at Kumasinga
Playful baboons at Kumasinga
Roofing thatch apparently make wonderful toys for little baboons
The big males are the most confident
Baboon
Baboons
A huge troop of baboons
Baboon beauty treatment
Baboons often pass through camp looking for scraps and stealing from the accommodation units
Male Baboon taking a break
Fast asleep in the early morning sun
Male Baboon taking a break
Baboons have learnt that unlocked cars could be an easy source of food
Yawn!
Baboon escaping from a chalet at Thendele Camp
Chacma Baboon
Time for grooming
Wet Baboon after a rainstorm
Baboon surveying the landscape
Baboons having fun at Lengau Dam
Baboons having fun at Lengau Dam
Baboons having fun at Lengau Dam
Baboons relaxing in the shade
Baboons settling in for the night
Baboon
Baboons huddling together in the rays of early morning
Baboon
Young Baboon disliking the attention of human onlookers (photo by Joubert)
Young Baboon
Chacma Baboon
Baboons
Baboon troop
Baboons
Female Baboons give birth to single young (rarely twins) at any time of the year. Newborn babies hang from their mother’s tummy when she’s walking, while older babies ride on her back like a jockey. Youngsters remain dependant on their mother until they are at least a year old. Females remain in their maternal troop when they reach adulthood, while young males join other troops. All animals in the troop are extremely protective of babies, and when attacked by a predator the large males will usually launch a counter attack. Leopards are the main threat to adult baboons, but they are not easy prey by any means. Chacma Baboons have a life expectancy of up to 45 years in the wild.
Like father, like son. Baboon spectators at Kumasinga
Baby baboon getting a piggy-back ride
Baby Baboon getting a piggy-back ride
Baboon jockey
Shingwedzi jungle-gym
Shingwedzi jungle-gym
Shingwedzi jungle-gym
Shingwedzi jungle-gym
Shingwedzi jungle-gym
Shingwedzi jungle-gym
Baboon family life
Baboon mothers make excellent vantage points!
Young Baboons hang from their mother’s tummy
Older babies ride on mom’s back like jockeys
Young Chacma Baboon
Young Baboons love playing
Sibling bonding
Baboon youngsters at speed!
Baboon youngster
Levitating Chacma baboon youngster
Female Baboon in oestrus
Baboons
Chacma Baboons
Chacma Baboons (photo by Joubert)
Chacma Baboons (photo by Joubert)
Chacma Baboons (photo by Joubert)
Chacma Baboons (photo by Joubert)
Baboons on the roof of the reception office at Potberg
Baboons are probably the most easily seen mammal in Giant’s Castle, as they move through the Rest Camp daily
A pair of mating baboons high in the mountains
Baboons are probably the most easily seen mammal in Giant’s Castle, as they move through the Rest Camp daily
Baboons are probably the most easily seen mammal in Giant’s Castle, as they move through the Rest Camp daily
Baboons are probably the most easily seen mammal in Giant’s Castle, as they move through the Rest Camp daily
Baboons use precarious beds
Baboons use precarious beds
Baboon chasing a Black-backed Jackal
Baboon
Baby baboon
Baboon
Baboon sentry
Baboon
Young Baboon
Curious baby Baboon
Baboons
Baboon
Chacma Baboon
Chacma Baboon
Baboons
Baboons in Mapungubwe National Park
Baboon feeding on water plants in Mapungubwe National Park
Baboons in Mapungubwe National Park
Baboons in Mapungubwe National Park
Baboons in Mapungubwe National Park (photo by Joubert)
Chacma Baboon
Male Baboon clinging to a log for his afternoon nap
Baboon spa treatment
Chacma Baboon
Chacma Baboon
Baboons occurring in neighbouring countries north of the Limpopo belong to a different subspecies, P. u. griseipes, and have a slight yellowish tinge to their fur.
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes
Baboon of subspecies Papio ursinus griseipes searching for seeds in elephant dung
A denizen of rivers, wetlands, lakes, lagoons, estuaries, dams, ponds and pans with still water and surrounded by dense vegetation, the Red-knobbed Coot follows an omnivorous diet of aquatic plants, algae, molluscs, crustaceans, insects and the eggs of other waterbirds. Adults can weigh up to 1kg.
Red-knobbed Coots are solitary breeders, pairs establishing a territory in which to raise their young. They are very aggressive, both towards their own kind and other species of waterfowl. in South Africa they breed at any time of the year. Nests are platforms built of aquatic plant material on open water or among emergent vegetation. When not breeding they are more gregarious, occasionally congregating in flocks that number more than a thousand birds.
The Red-knobbed Coot has a wide distribution in East and Southern Africa and a population estimated at over a million, though declining mostly through habitat loss, and considered of Least Concern by the IUCN. There is an isolated, threatened population in Morocco and Southern Spain. They can be found commonly all over South Africa where suitable habitat exists, including on farm dams and rivers in the arid west of the country, expanding their range in response to the building of suitable artificial waterbodies.
If there is one sound that is symbolic of Africa’s waterways, it must be the call of the African Fish Eagle. It is the national bird of several African countries, and the South African presidential jet carries its Zulu name Inkwazi. They occur over almost all of Sub-Saharan Africa in close association with rivers, lakes, dams, swamps, estuaries and lagoons. As can be deduced from their name, African Fish Eagles subsist mainly on a diet of fish (weighing up to 2kg) snatched from the water in flight, though they will also catch baby crocodiles, terrapins, small mammals and other birds (up to the size of flamingos), scavenge the catches of other waterbirds like storks and herons and feed on carrion. Adults can weigh over 3kg and have a wingspan of almost 2.5m.
African Fish Eagle pairs are monogamous, pair for life and maintain their territories year-round, nesting in tall trees or on cliffs near water. Their nests are large, built of twigs and reeds. In South Africa the breeding season coincides with the drier months of the year, when fish are easier to catch in dwindling pools. Clutches contain up to three eggs, and are incubated mostly by the female for about 6 weeks. The parent birds are usually successful in raising all their chicks to fledging at about two-and-a-half months of age, whereafter the young stay with their parents for another three months or so. Newly independent juveniles often congregate in flocks that can number as many as 75 birds. African Fish Eagles have a life expectancy of up to 24 years in the wild.
The IUCN lists the African Fish Eagle as being of Least Concern, siting its large, stable population estimated at about 300,000, wide distribution and no real threat from humans. They can be found in all South Africa’s provinces – even penetrating the arid west along the course of the Orange River and its tributaries.
African Fish Eagle on the Letaba River
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle flypast
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle in low-level flight over Midmar
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
Immature Fish Eagle at Batlhako Dam
Immature Fish Eagle in flight
Immature African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
Fish Eagle taking off (Photo by Joubert)
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle in flight with nesting material
African Fish Eagle
Immature African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
Young Fish Eagle overhead
Fish Eagle
Fish Eagle in flight
Fish Eagle keeping watch over a pool in the Nwaswitsontso.
African Fish Eagle in flight
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)
African Fish Eagle
African Fish Eagle
Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)
Fish Eagle with prey
Adult African Fish Eagle in flight
Immature African Fish Eagle in flight
Fish Eagle (photo by Joubert)
African Fish Eagle in flight over the Nuwejaars Wetland
The Red-winged Starling is an omnivorous species feeding on a wide range of seeds, fruits and berries, nectar, invertebrates (even pecking parasites from large mammals), small vertebrates (such as the hatchlings of other birds) as well as carrion and human waste.
These large starlings (30cm long, weighing up to 150g) are closely associated with cliffs and rocky hills and mountains, occurring in a wide range of mesic vegetation types wherever these favoured breeding sites are to be found. They have also adapted to built-up environments, where they use buildings as artificial nesting sites. Monogamous pairs of Red-winged Starlings stay together for years, are territorial when breeding and aggressively protect their nests, even against humans. The nest is built of mud, twigs and grass on a ledge, and the female is responsible for incubating the 2 to 4 eggs over a period of about two weeks. Hatchlings fledge at about a month old. Outside of the summer breeding season they are highly gregarious and congregate in large flocks.
The Red-winged Starling commonly occurs in a band stretching from Ethiopia to South Africa and is considered of least concern by the IUCN, with a growing population as it continues to exploit man-made habitats. In South Africa this species can be found in the south, east and north of the country, being entirely absent from the arid parts of the Northern Cape. It is regarded a pest in orchards.
Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starling atop a boulder
Red-winged Starling chick waiting for his parents
Male Red-Winged Starling
Female Red-Winged Starling
Female Red-winged Starling on her nest at our cottage
Female Red-winged starling
Red-winged starling looking after our car
Red-winged starling
Red-winged Starlings
Red-winged starling
Red-winged starling
Red-winged Starling
Female Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starling
Red-winged Starlings raiding Village Weaver nests, presumably for nesting material
DeWetsWild