Warthogs
Warthogs and warty pigs live social lives in groups called sounders. (Woodland Park Zoo/Dennis Dow)

Meet Woodland Park Zoo's new warty pigs

BY MyNorthwest.com  on May 4, 2012 @ 3:34 pm (Updated: 4:52 pm - 5/4/12 )

Warts and pigs, the combination is intoxicating, and now they can be found at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Visayan warty pigs and warthogs are the first to be part of the Seattle zoo. Their exhibit, officially opening May 5, can be found at the Elephant Forest near the elephant pool in a roadleaf tropical forest landscape simulating their native home of the Philippines.

Kids will love the critically endangered Visayan warty pigs for their spiky head tufts that resemble the hairdos of punk rockers.

Did you know? Warthogs and warty pigs live social lives in groups called sounders.

A brother and sister, both 1-year-old, make up the zoo's new sounder. WPZ says the sounder of Visayan warty pigs consists of a 9-year-old female and two 3-year- old sisters.

"For many years, domestic pigs have been a crowd-pleaser at the zoo's Family Farm, so we're excited about introducing wild pigs, especially Visayan warty pigs, which are so rare in the wild and in zoos. This may be the only encounter visitors will ever have with this critically endangered pig," said Martin Ramirez, a mammal curator at Woodland Park Zoo.

On opening weekend, May 5-6, free piggy banks will be given at the ZooStores to the first 500 kids (age 12 and under) each day.

MyNorthwest.com, Staff report
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    "Did you know ? . Warthogs and warty pigs live social lives in groups called sounders."
    May 4, 2012 5:09 pm
    Didn't know, but NOW professional soccer in Seattle makes sense,
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    Can we start naming zoo animals with regular names?
    May 4, 2012 5:29 pm
    Good grief. They were born here and are now American animals. This nonsense of giving them some PC name that would alert DHS is patronizing.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lonestar wrote...
    Loretta
    May 5, 2012 12:35 pm
    Is that you? I've been lookin for ya.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }