Zoo Miami Welcomes 4 Baby Warthog Piglets

MIAMI, FL — Zoo Miami welcomed not one, not two, not three — but four — cuddly baby warthog piglets in recently. In announcing the births on Friday, the zoo's Ron Magill said that the June 20 special delivery marked the first in 22 years of and only the second in Zoo Miami history. The litter includes one female and three males.

"Made famous through the unforgettable character, “Pumba,” in Disney’s hit movie, 'The Lion King,' the African warthog has become an extremely popular animal," explained Magill, who said that zoo staff were able to separate the newborns from their mother for the first time on Friday to conduct neonatal exams on them — but only for a few minutes. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Patch.)

"The preliminary reports indicate that all four piglets appear to be healthy and developing well," he said. The three-year old mother came from the Indianapolis Zoo and the three-year old father is from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

"These are the first offspring for both parents," he said. "It is the second successful birth of warthogs at Zoo Miami. The first one occurred back in 1995."

The mother will remain off exhibit with her piglets for several days to insure that they have bonded properly and are well acclimated to their surroundings prior to going on public display.

Warthogs are found through much of sub-Saharan Africa. Though not naturally aggressive, these wild pigs are quite capable of protecting themselves with large, powerful tusks which they normally use to tear up the ground in search of roots and grubs and to establish dominance between them, according to zoo officials. Males develop considerably larger tusks than the females.

Magill added that the name warthog is "a bit misleading" because the protrusions from the sides of their heads are fatty, granular tissue rather than warts.

One of the newborns gets a close examination from a Zoo Miami veterinarian courtesy of Zoo Miami