The weather was beautiful and humans weren’t the only ones enjoying the warm sunshine.
Two piglet warthogs — Daphne and Violet — came outside for the first time at the Detroit Zoo on Wednesday, under the close watch of their mother, Lilith. Eight-year-old Lilith, and her twin sister, Rebecca, are named for fictional characters from the television series “Cheers.’ Daphne is named for a character from “Frasier’ (the “Cheers’ spinoff). The piglets’ father is 3-year-old Linus (named for the “Peanuts’ character). Violet is also named for a “Peanuts’ character.
Female warthogs give birth to litters of 2-8 after a gestation period of 5-6 months. Daphne and Violet — born on April 7 — represent the first-ever warthog piglets at the Detroit Zoo.
The births were the result of a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, a cooperative management program to ensure genetically healthy, diverse and self-sustaining populations of threatened and endangered species. There are currently just over a hundred warthogs in North American zoos.
Warthogs are mammals who live in savannahs, grasslands and woodlands of much of central, east and southern Africa. Their diet is omnivorous and their favorite foods include grasses, roots, insects, eggs, fruit, and carrion.
They are most well known for their curved tusks, which protrude from their mouths. Their upper tusks (canines) can reach a length of 10 inches. The lower tusks rub against the upper tusks and become razor sharp. They use their tusks for digging and fighting.
