Red River Hog

male red river hog

Red River Hog

Potamochoerus porcus
Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Suidae

Range

Africa, south of the Sahara to northern South Africa

Size

Length: 3 - 5 ft
Height: 2 - 3 ft
Weight: 100 - 290 lbs

Habitat

Rainforest, forest, and savanna woodland

Young

Avg. 2 - 4
Gestation: 122 days

Diet

Omnivores; will eat just about anything including tubers, roots, insects, worms, grass, berries, small mammals, and carrion

IUCN Status

Least Concern

What's in a name?

Red river hogs are named for their reddish brown fur and the fact that they often wade through water.

male and female red river hogs

Snout Built for Digging

Also called African bush pigs, these gorgeous hogs use their snout like a plow to dig up roots and find food. Their upper tusks are relatively small and almost invisible, while the lower ones are razor sharp and grow 3 inches long.

Social Group

Red river hogs live in social groups called sounders. Males are called boars and females are called sows.

red river hog piglets

Piglets

Pigs are the only hoofed mammals to have litters rather than one or two young. Red river hog piglets are born with yellow stripes along the back and sides of the body. At 3 months, the stripes fade to a rufous coat with a black and white dorsal crest.

red river hogs eating
red river hog close up

Status

Farming has spread throughout their range in Africa, providing good grazing for these pigs and lessening the population of leopards, one of the red river hog’s natural predators. However, hog raids on gardens have led to farmers taking drastic measures to protect their crops, including extermination. Red river hogs are also hunted for the bush meat trade, and while they are not yet endangered their numbers are in decline.