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We have trained eyes for detecting primates, but it took a little while for us to realize that we were looking at a group of olive baboons (scientific name: Papio anubis, Kiswahili name: nyani). The setting here, between the eastern shore of Lake Turkana and the western edge of the Chalbi Desert, is new to us. On a distant rocky hill, surrounded by expansive black lava plains with a sparse cover of  thorny acacia (Acacia species) and commiphora (Commiphora species) bush and badly damaged toothbrush trees (Salvadora persica), a group of olive baboons is resting…all eyes fixed on us. The group must have seen, or at least heard, us approaching from miles away. While battling refraction (bending heat waves) from the extremely hot ground we count 54 individuals.

Despite our numerous encounters with baboons in arid regions, we are surprised to find olive baboons in this ‘bone dry’ area. Over the past few days we have seen a few groups in Sibiloi National Park, 23 km to the north-west, but this area is even dryer and more desolate than Sibiloi….’what on earth do these baboons feed on?…and where do they go to drink and sleep?’…we questioned while peering through our binoculars.

Olive baboons (Papio anubis) resting and grooming, but alert, on a hill to the east of Lake Turkana. Photographs by Yvonne de Jong and Tom Butynski.

Kenya supports at least 12 genera, 19 species and 24 subspecies of primates and, together, they occupy almost all terrestrial habitats that Kenya offers. The forests support the highest diversity and densities of primates, the deserts the lowest. The semi-arid habitats of northern Kenya harbor three semi-terrestrial diurnal primate species [olive baboon (Papio anubis), vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas)] and two arboreal nocturnal primate species [northern lesser galago (Galago senegalensis), Somali galago (Galago gallarum)].

The olive baboon is the most widely distributed primate in Kenya as it occupies the greatest range of habitat types. Although we have encountered olive baboons in forests, they are typically a species of savannas, bushlands and woodlands. To the north of the deserts of Kenya, in Ethiopia and in Eritrea, olive baboons occur in semi-arid steppe where the average annual rainfall is as low as 300 mm. Here, east of Lake Turkana, the average annual rainfall is less than 200 mm and it may not rain for several years. The deep luggas (seasonal rivers), however, indicate that it occasionally rains heavily.

It is the end of the dry season and there appears to be no nearby source of drinking water. We have driven many kilometers without seeing any water. Since olive baboons need to drink every few days we assume that there is water somewhere in area. Since baboons in arid areas also need high cliffs on which to sleep at night (in order to avoid predators), we also assume that are cliffs somewhere in the area.

Olive baboons (Papio anubis) on the move east of Lake Turkana. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong and Tom Butynski.

Setting-up camp and installing camera traps on the banks of a large lugga about 7 km south of our baboon encounter, we hear another group of baboons. The large, dense, tall groves of doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) and other trees along the banks of the lugga appear to provide a vital source of food and cover for baboons and many other species.

Camera trap attached to a commiphora tree east of Lake Turkana (595 m asl), north-central Kenya. In this riverine vegetation, our 11 camera traps captured, during one night and early morning, olive baboon (Papio anubis), common genet (Genetta genetta), common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), North African crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata), and black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas). No surface water was found in this area. Dense groves of doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) were, however, present. We suspect that the fruits of doum palm are a vital food for these baboons, warthogs and porcupines. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong and Tom Butynski.

Doum palm, are one of the tallest (up to 15 m) and most common (and often dominant) tree species on the banks of Kenya’s luggas, rivers and oases. The fruit is large, often abundant, and has a water content of >24%. The shoots of the germinated seeds are eaten by people, baboons and other species. We have encountered baboons feeding on doum palm fruits at many sites throughout the lower, drier regions of Kenya.

Adult female olive baboon (Papio anubis) feeding on a doum palm fruit at Kalacha, an oasis in the Chalbi Desert of central northern Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong and Tom Butynski.

Baboons need to drink at least once every 2 days. Like humans, they dig ‘wells’ in dry river beds to access ground water. To conserve body water they are largely inactive during the heat of the day…resting in dense shade. The water that baboons extract from their foods (fruit, shoots, roots, leaves, meat), together with what little drinking water is available, is enough to sustain a low density population through the driest periods in arid sites such as on the edge of the Chalbi Desert and around Lake Turkana. As the doum palm appears to produce the largest amount of fruit of any tree in northern Kenya, we believe that this is a keystone food species for the olive baboon in this region. In addition, the groves of doum palm also provide baboons with dense shade and refuge from predators.

Juvenile olive baboon (Papio anubis) feeding on a doum palm fruit (Hyphaene thebaica) in Samburu National Reserve, central Kenya. This tree appears to be a critical source of food, water, shade and refuge for baboons in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong and Tom Butynski.

Baboons are highly opportunistic and adaptable and, therefore, able to exploit a large range of foods as they become available. During one of our surveys in northern Kenya we encountered an abundance of locusts (family: Acrididae)…they were literally ‘everywhere’….all over the ground, in our vehicle, in our tents, and on us. Locusts, being rich both in protein and water, are an excellent, although seasonal, food for many animals, including baboons. We suspect that locust are another important food for the baboons of northern Kenya.

That night we camped within a grove of doum palms…which is always ‘interesting’. All past experience tells us that doum palms should be avoided if one wishes to get a good night’s sleep. The large, course, often dry, palm leaves rustle loudly in response to even the slightest breeze, while the ‘infrastructure’ of the doum palm groves encourages activity at every level at all times of the night. That night a large cat (probably a leopard) walks past our tents and then, noisily, chases at least one common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) through the abundant, dry palm leaf litter…evoking alarm calls from baboons.

The next morning we are pleased to see that our camera traps have ‘captured’ a group of baboons as it traveled along the bed of the lugga. Our ‘irresistible’ bait has also attracted other creatures…a common genet (Genetta genetta), a North African crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata), a black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), and a sounder of common warthogs. In an earlier blog (‘Where warthogs roam at night’) we speculate about the strategy that the common warthog has adopted to endure the dry environment of northern Kenya and mention the role of the doum palm in that strategy.

The Egyptians, long ago, recognized the importance of the doum palm in the ecology of the arid areas of north-east Africa, declaring it a sacred tree, and planting it with the belief that it would protect their dead and supply them with food and water in the after-life.

The doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) appears to be a keystone tree species for many mammals in northern Kenya, providing food, water, shade, and refuge. Notice the abundant, large, fruits and the dense cover provided by the leaves. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong and Tom Butynski.

Two adult common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) captured by a camera trap in a doum palm grove east of Lake Turkana (595 m asl), north-central Kenya.

Footnote

Baboons have a bad reputation in many places in Africa as they are often in conflict with humans. With Africa’s rapidly expanding human population, habitat for baboons is rapidly being degraded, fragmented and lost. As such, baboons frequently raid crops and enter homes, lodges and camps in search of food.  An overview of the causes and effects of the complex baboon-human conflict can be accessed at: ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’.

In order to address human – nonhuman primate conflicts, and to help ensure the long-term survival of all of Kenya’s primates, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) initiated the ‘National Primate Conservation Task Force’ (NPCTF) in early 2013. The Task Force has the mandate to compile primate conservation management plans, set primate conservation priorities, and advise KWS on matters related to primate conservation. For more information, visit:  http://www.wildsolutions.nl/taskforce.htm

NEXT: Close Encounter with a Desert Roaming Cheetah

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When you are lucky enough to spot a cheetah (scientific name: Acinonyx jubatus raineyi; Kiswahili name: duma), you typically see a ‘little’ head (well……for a cat of that size ‘little’) sticking out of tall yellow grass under a shady acacia or balanites tree. If you are really lucky, there is a second ‘little’ head sticking out nearby. While conducting our desert warthog survey on the edge of Kenya’s remote Chalbi Desert we had a very different encounter with the majestic cheetah. While driving slowly along a sandy track, we suddenly saw, only 4 meters away, a lean adult cheetah standing between two thorny shrubs…staring at us.

Two adult cheetah in Meru National Park, central Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski.

Cheetah are predominantly diurnal and occupy enormous (800-1500 km²) home ranges. Their distribution is largely dependent on the availability of prey. In fact, the cheetah’s distribution coincides with that of gazelles (Gazella spp.) and impala (Aepyceros melampus). Cheetah are supported by a wide range of vegetation types but their densities are highest in wooded savannahs. Cheetah are adapted to open and semi-arid environments where they use their speed to out run their, usually fast, prey [small- and medium-sized ungulates including gazelles, impala, gerenuk (Litocranius walleri), dik-diks (Madoqua spp.), as well as our focal species during this survey....warthogs (Phacochoerus spp.).

Guenther’s dik dik (Madoqua guentheri) in the the acacia shrubland of the Koroli Desert, northern central Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski.

Life in the Chalbi Desert is tough. Wildlife is not diverse and those species that can endure this waterless environment occur at low densities. During our survey we do, however, come across potential cheetah ‘nyama’ (Kiswahili word for ‘meat’). The widely scattered acacia and commiphora bushes and spare grass provide habitat for gerenuk, Guenther’s dik-diks (Madoqua guentheri), Bright’s gazelle (Gazella notata), and hares (Lepus spp.). The occasional oasis supports flocks of vulturine guinea fowl (Acryllium vulturinum). Despite the lack of warthog in the Chalbi Desert, small numbers occur in the doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) dominated areas just to the west, near Lake Turkana. The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), which is known to steal kills from cheetah, is likely the only large carnivore to compete with the cheetah in this region. This competition is, however, probably minimized by the fact that the cheetah hunts primarily during the day and the hyena hunts primarily at night.

Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) captured by one of our camera traps in an oasis located between the Koroli Plains and Chalbi Desert. A hyena chewed-up and destroyed a camera trap at this site. See our blog: New Population of Bushbabies Discovered in Northern Kenya). Photograph by Tom Butynski & Yvonne de Jong.

A flock of about 40 vulturine Guinea fowls (Acryllium vulturinum) was encountered in an oasis located between the Koroli Plains and Chalbi Desert. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski.

The ability to hide and disappear is an adaptation that cheetah have to compensate for their physical defenselessness…they are built for speed (indeed they are the fastest land mammal with a speed just over 100 km/h). They are not built to physically defend themselves against other larger predators.

Cheetah are generally difficult to observe and never reach high densities. Nonetheless, there is a reasonable chance to see this charismatic cat when visiting Samburu National Reserve, Meru National Park and Laikipia County in central Kenya, or the Masai Mara in south-western Kenya.

Since 1986, the cheetah has been listed as a ´Vulnerable´ species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Cheetah are highly sensitive to modifications to their environment, competition with other large carnivores, and unstable prey densities. The major threats to their long-term survival are habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation, as well as disease.

Cheetah were once widespread across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Today, the only population outside of Africa is in Iran (estimated at 70 to 100 individuals). In Africa, the main populations of cheetah are in southern Africa and East Africa, but this is not saying much. For example, about 94% of the historical range of this  over the area covered by Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and southern Sudan has been lost. The number of adult and sub-adult cheetah over this vast area is believed to be fewer than 2,600.

In East Africa, the main population of cheetah is in southern Kenya  (Masai Mara National Reserve, Tsavo East National Park, Tsavo West National Park) and contiguous central northern Tanzania (Serengeti National Park) with an estimated 710 individuals (IUCN 2013). Kenya’s protected areas hold only about 20% of the country’s cheetah. The other 80% are on private or community lands. Despite the fact that northern Kenya is marginal as cheetah habitat, human disturbance is limited due to the very low annual rainfall (average of 200 to 300 mm). What prey remains for cheetah is widespread and at low densities. We suspect that Guenther’s dik-dik and Kirk’s dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii) are the main prey of cheetah in this region.

Cheetah sightings in northern Kenya are rare. Although there are historic records from the Chalbi Desert, this area is now excluded from the IUCN Red List’s cheetah distribution map. Our encounter was about 65 km north of the confirmed resident population of cheetah in Kenya.

Adult cheetah in Samburu National Reserve, central Kenya. Photograph by Yvonne de Jong & Tom Butynski.

During our opportune encounter with that cheetah in the Chalbi Desert we realize, a fraction of a second later, that a second adult cheetah was watching us from behind a bush. Now, with the cheetah behind us, we quickly stopped the Land Cruiser and grabbed our cameras, only to experience what the world’s fastest land mammal does best….vanish in a flash!

Next: New Populations of Bushbabies Discovered in Northern Kenya

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Other posts from Yvonne and Thomas’s expedition

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During our research to better define the geographical range of the desert warthog in northern Kenya, we use every opportunity to collect data on other taxa present in this dry and relatively poorly known region. The nights, in particular, provide new and interesting findings…and, this time, we are not talking ‘pigs’ (see our two earlier blogs).

A few hours after dark…in an oasis dominated by acacia and doum palm in the Chalbi Desert, we carefully scan each thorny bush and tree with our headlamps. It does not take long before we see the first bright orange shine of eyes peeking our way…..galagos! With our binoculars and flashlights we rapidly confirm the presence of the Somali lesser galago (or ‘bushbaby’)….Kenya’s least known primate and one of the five species of galagos found in this country.

Oasis of acacia and doum palm trees in the Chalbi Desert of north-central Kenya where we found a new population of the Somali lesser galago (390 meters asl). Photo: Yvonne de Jong & Thomas Butynski.

The Somali lesser galago (scientific name: Galago gallarum) is a nocturnal, arboreal, primate of the thornbush and woodland of north-eastern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, and Somalia, but the limits of its distribution remain poorly understood. This small primate lives in dryer habitats (<400 millimeters/years) than any other primate in Africa. By adopting a ‘moisture-saving’, nocturnal lifestyle it meets its water needs from the foods that it eats. With its big eyes and ears, and beautiful orange limbs, this tiny (200 grams) primate is almost ‘too cute’ (not very scientific…we know) for the hostile, dry and heavily thorned habitat in which it thrives. They are able to move through the thorniest vegetation at speed, and can make leaps of up to 2.5 meters. Little is known about the diet of the Somali lesser galago but we have seen them feed on tree gum and insects, and strongly suspect that they occasionally eat fruits.

Photo: Yvonne de Jong & Thomas Butynski

The Somali lesser galago (Galago gallarum) is a small, poorly known, nocturnal primate that lives in dryer habitats than any other primate in Africa. During this survey in north-central Kenya, we encountered these two individuals, and at least two others, in an oasis in the Chalbi Desert. Photo: Yvonne de Jong & Thomas Butynski

The Somali lesser galago was described and named over 110 years ago (1901) and later  subsumed as one of the many subspecies of the northern lesser (Senegal) galago (Galago senegalensis). In the 1980s this taxon was elevated back to species level but its natural history remains poorly known. Since 2003 we have been collecting information on the distribution, abundance, ecological, behavior and conservation status of this species. Some of our findings are now published (see www.wildsolutions.nl ).

Our first encounter with the Somali lesser galago was in 2003 in Meru National Park, north of the Tana River, central Kenya. We have since confirmed the presence of this species at many sites in southern Ethiopia and in northern, central and eastern Kenya. Our finding, thus far, suggest that the south-western limit for the Somali lesser galago is the Tana River (Kenya’s largest river), that the central-western limit is the Kenya Highlands, and that the north-western limit is the Chalbi Desert and the Ethiopian Highlands. The eastern and north-eastern limits, and probably the greater part of the geographic range of this species, lie in Somalia and in south-eastern Ethiopia, but galagos have never been surveyed over that vast region.

Confirming the presence of the Somali lesser galago in the south-eastern part of the Chalbi Desert is important in several respects. First, it provides a ‘dot on the map’ near the middle of a 200 kilometer wide stretch of desert that we suspected was too dry for this galago (200 to 400 millimeters of rain per year) (see map at www.wildsolutions.nl). It also indicates that the Somali lesser galago can occupy small, extremely isolated, patches of acacia bush and woodland. As there are currently no subspecies described for the Somali lesser galago, observations of the colour and pattern of the pelage of individuals from distant parts of the  range, and from isolated sites like this oasis, could be especially rewarding since differences would suggest the existence of subspecies.

Galagos produce a wide range of calls. Their ‘loud calls’ — an aid in nocturnal, long-distance, spacing and territoriality — can be heard by the human ear as far as 300 metres. Each species produces a distinctive loud call (or advertisement call) and this is used by primatologist to identify species. When we first heard the loud call of the Somali lesser galago we were surprised at how different it was from that of the Senegal lesser galago, particularly since the two were, for many years, considered to be of the same species. The Senegal lesser galago emits a single-unit, low pitched loud ‘honk’ (or ‘woo’) call that is repeated in long series at about 1-2 second intervals. The Somali lesser galago produces a rapid four unit, explosive ‘quack’ that is usually repeated many times and grades into three, two and one unit calls.

We have observed several behavioural differences between these two species of galagos. For example, the Somali lesser galago is typically much more confiding and less shy than the Senegal lesser galago. On being located with a light, the Somali lesser galago frequently moves towards the observer, sometimes to as close as 1 meter. The Somali lesser galago often forages on insects that are attracted to the light of our lamps. The Senegal lesser galago, in contrast, is generally shier and usually moves away from the observer to hide in a tree hole or in dense vegetation.

The Somali lesser galagos that we observed in the oasis of the Chalbi Desert were not much bothered by our presence. They gave us good photographic opportunities and views with our binoculars. We were able to confirm that they had grey hands and feet, like those 170 kilometers to the south, at the foot of the Mathews Range, not black hands and feet like those in Meru National Park, 310 kilometers to the south-east.

Our camp at an oasis of acacia and doum palm trees in the Chalbi Desert in north-central Kenya (390 meters asl). A flock of vulturine Guinea fowls is silhouetted against the sky in the far background. Photo: Yvonne de Jong & Thomas Butynski

That night we placed our tents under the canopy where the galagos were active.  I fell asleep with my hand on the RECORD button of the audio recorder…hoping to capture the galago’s loud call. That was not to be! Instead there would be spotted hyenas sniffing at our tents and calling nearby. Nonetheless, we were well pleased with discovering the Somali lesser galago at this site, and with the new dot on the distribution map.

For galago photographs, maps, literature and research project details, visit www.wildsolutions.nl

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In our search for warthogs in central northern Kenya, we drive from Marsabit, across the Koroli and Chalbi Deserts to Sibiloi National Park (just south of the Kenya – Ethiopian border). It is the end of the dry season in a region where the annual rainfall averages just 250 mm per year (and in some parts it may not rain for several years).

The ground alternates between deep red sand and bare, black, volcanic rock, and there is the rare oasis. Vegetation is sparse, and the birds and mammals are few. Most of the life of this region is supported by the narrow bands of poor forest found along the ‘sand rivers’….rivers that typically flow for but a few days or weeks each year. Only the most desert-adapted species are able to endure this severe environment.

Given it’s name, we anticipate that the ‘desert’ warthog is present here…and that the common warthog is absent.  There is, however, a puzzling record of common warthog in our database for Sibiloi National Park (meaning ‘Cradle of mankind’). A primary aim of our survey is to determine which species of warthog is present in this region.

Kibrot Pass on the dry, rocky (volcanic), barren shore of south-eastern Lake Turkana south of Loiyangalani town, central northern Kenya (October 2012).

Slowly we drive northwards along the eastern shore of Lake Turkana towards the Ethiopian border. Much of the area is severely degraded as a result of over-grazing and over-browing by sheep, goats, donkeys and camels. Warthogs are not to be seen! The acacia shrublands of Sibiloi National Park and its surroundings seem slightly more likely to support at least a few warthogs.

A brief sightings of four warthogs, and examination of three warthog skulls at the camp of the famous Koobi Fora Research Project, indicate that the common warthog is present. Equipped with twelve infrared camera traps and a variety of ‘irresistible’ baits (sardines, soya sauce, bananas, dry cat food), we are confident of capturing some of the more shy and obscure mammals of the area.

The biggest surprise is the capture of sounders (or groups) of common warthog that are foraging at night…common warthogs are typically  diurnal. It appears that the common warthog in this desert environment has ‘swapped’ its strictly diurnal lifestyle for a nocturnal or cathemeral (active during the day and night) one.

One of the three common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) skulls at the Base Camp of the Koobi Fora Research Project in Sibiloi National Park, central northern Kenya (October 2012).

Sounder (or group) of two adult and six young common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) caught in a camera trap in riverine forest south of Sibiloi National Park (595 m asl), central northern Kenya. In this habitat, the 12 camera traps captured (during one night and early morning) olive baboon (Papio anubis), common genet (Genetta genetta), common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata), and black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas). No surface water was found in this area. Dense clumps of doum palms (Hyphaene thebaica) were present, however, and we suspect that its fruits are a vital food and source of water for the baboons, warthogs and porcupines.

Nocturnal activity by warthogs has been rarely reported. To our knowledge, there are only two other records of nocturnal activity by common warthogs; one for a forest in western Africa and one for a forest in the Kenya Highlands. Just north of the equator, at an altitude of about 600 m, it is hot during the day. Being active at night is probably an adaption by common warthogs that enables them to live where it is hot, where food is probably often scare, and where there is no drinking water for several months at a time.

In all of the areas where we encountered common warthogs, there were dense clumps of doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica). This is probably a keystone species for the common warthog and other species in northern Kenya, providing food, water, and dense shade/cover.

The doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica) appears to be an important tree (providing shelter, food, and water) for many desert species in the vicinity of Lake Turkana, central northern Kenya (October 2012).

That there was considerable moonlight during the nights when the camera traps captured common warthogs raises the question as to how reliant common warthogs are on moonlight for nocturnal foraging. Do they forage on dark, moonless, nights?…perhaps using their very acute sense of smell to guide them along?

The other question raised during this survey is, ‘Why did we find common warthogs where we expected to find desert warthogs? The ecological niche and environmental limits of the desert warthog a poorly known. Perhaps ‘desert’ warthog is a misnomer…and it is the common warthog that is able to exploit the more xeric habitats.

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Other posts from Yvonne’s expedition: Quest for Kenya’s Desert Warthog

National Geographic Warthog Info Page

Guide to Kenya

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There are two species of warthog, the common warthog (scientific name Phacochoerus africanus) and the desert warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus). The better known of the two, the common warthog (indeed… ‘Pumba’ in the ‘Lion King’), is widespread in sub-saharan Africa, including the Horn of Africa (i.e., Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea). The desert warthog, on-the-other-hand, is restricted to the Horn of Africa. Until recently, observers in the Horn of Africa have not differentiated between the two species of warthog. As such, the limits of the distributions of these two species over the Horn of Africa remains poorly known, as does their conservation status.

As of 2001, all records for the desert warthog were north of the Tana River in extreme eastern Kenya. On this basis, zoologist suspected that the Tana River (a large, 1000 km long river that runs from central Kenya south-eastward to the Indian Ocean) was the southern limit of the desert warthog. In 2005, however, we encountered this species close to, but south of the Tana River during one of our primate surveys. These observations also extended the known geographical range of the desert warthog by almost 270 km to the northwest.

Adult male desert warthog in Tsavo West National Park, south-eastern Kenya. Note the flipped-back ear tips, hooked warts, broad, ‘egg-shaped’, head, swollen suborbital area, and relatively wide nose pad. Photograph by Tom Butynski & Yvonne de Jong.

Adult male common warthog on the Laikipia Plateau, central Kenya. Note the pointed ears, cone-shaped warts, ‘diabolo-shaped’ head, absenceof swelling of the suborbital area, and relatively narrow nose pad. Photograph by Tom Butynski & Yvonne de Jong

Our encounters with desert warthogs in 2005 marked the beginning of our quest to better determine the geographic range of this species and to collect the information needed for assessing its conservation status. With the desert warthog now known to occur south of the Tana River, we were particularly interested in determining the species’ southern limit. A second important question at the time was whether the desert warthog occur together with the common warthog at some sites.

Now, in 2012, we know that both species of warthog occur together (i.e., they are ‘sympatric’) in Tsavo East National Park and Tsavo West National Park in south-eastern Kenya, and in Samburu National Reserve, Buffalo Springs National Reserve, and Mathews Range in central Kenya. The known southern limit has been extended to the western extreme of Tsavo West National Park. With a warthog locality database (named ‘WarthogBase’) in place, we have now mapped all of the known localities for the two species of warthog in the Horn of Africa. This, however, only begins to provide insight into the distributions of these two warthogs in this region as extremely large areas remain to be surveyed.

The desert warthog is probably Africa’s least known, non-forest, large mammal as its distribution is poorly understood and it has never been the focus of an ecological or behavioural study. This year, with financial support from National Geographic, we are undertaking warthog surveys in northern Kenya. The primary question that we hope to answer is, ‘What are the western and south-western limits of the range of the desert warthog in northern Kenya?’ During these surveys we will also collect data on the abundance, ecology and behavior of both species of warthog.

In this series of blogs we will present some of our findings. While exploring this relatively poorly known part of Kenya for warthogs we will also collect data on, and take photos of, the region’s primates, large mammals and birds, particularly the more threatened species (e.g., Grevy’s zebra Equus grevyi). Our future blogs will highlight some of our more important and interesting findings.

For more information on warthogs and our other research, past and present, please visit www.wildsolutions.nl.  This site holds many photos, distribution maps, and pdfs of publications and reports.

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National Geographic Warthog Info Page

Guide to Kenya