Warthogs use their tusks both for fighting off unwanted predators and other competing male warthogs, and the warthogs also use these tusks for digging in the dirt for grubs and insects. Warthogs have a diet that consists mainly of grass, fruit, berries, roots and insects but warthogs are also known to occasionally eat small mammals, birds and reptiles. The diet of the warthog however, depends on the season and what is growing and therefore available for the warthog to eat.
Elephants can also drink up to 50 gallons of water a day about as much as a standard bathtub holds. The elephant’s ability to locate underground water and dig pools helps provide many other species with water during droughts. Their unique trunk acts as part nose to assist in breathing and detecting odours, and part hand to assist with manipulating objects, social interactions, eating, dust bathing, drawing-up water and releasing it into the mouth for drinking.
An elephant’s tusks are both a blessing and curse. Blessing because they give a sense of true majesty that rise them above other animals as well and being of use for various tasks. A curse because man’s avarice for ivory has led to the senseless slaughter of hundreds of thousands of the magnificent animals. One of the key differences between African and Asian elephants is the tusks. All African elephants, male and female, have tusks whereas only some Asian males have tusks. About 50% of Asian females have short tusks known as tushes – which have no pulp inside.
