Safari West Welcomes 4 Baby Warthogs

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Safari West welcomed its newest residents last month: four baby warthog piglets, or as the park likes to call them, warthoglets.

"Mom and Dad (Njeri and Pig Newton) are so proud of their three boisterous boys and gregarious girl, born at Safari West in early April," officials with the 400-acre wildlife park said in an announcement. "The timing could not have been better as our warthogs moved into a brand-new habitat in February, just in time to get their home ready for their new family!"

Pig Newton could not be reached for comment and Njeri was busy tending to her youngins in a nest she built out of grass and straw.

Warthog piglets are 1-2 pounds at birth — about 1 percent the size of their mother — and the most common litter size is two to three piglets. Warthog females have four mammary glands so with this litter of four, each piglet gets to nurse from its own mammary gland.

"Njeri is very protective of her litter and is doing a great job caring for her newborns," said Nikki Smith, animal caregiver at Safari West near Santa Rosa. "The three male and one female piglets are nursing regularly and appear to be thriving."

The new piglets spent their first weeks snuggling in the nest but with their eyes open from birth, it was not long before they started to leave the nest to explore.

Community members are invited to "come out and see these energetic little rascals in action with your own eyes!"

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.