Ade, her warthogs and other animals

Most of our guests have visited Ade and I at our home camp, Papate and commented on all the warthog that visit us. This story started nearly 8 years ago when a large male warthog, that we called Chopper, decided that he would join us on our daily walk. Eight years ago we had an African wildcat called Phike that we had released back into the wilds and as you know, they are nocturnal animals. Each evening, Diesel (our little Daschund) and Phike would join us for our walk - and then one day Chopper joined us. It may seem strange to have a completely wild animal suddenly decide that we humans are acceptable to be friends with, but when you know where and how we live, this can be a reality.

We live amongst the wild animals where our home is a part of their territory. Often Martha, the dominant female hyaena will bring her pups into our lounge (which has merely a small half metre wall around some of it) to suckle them. We don’t interfere or touch them, just simply let them be.

Chopper then brought a few females with him to visit us and when they had their young, they introduced them to us, so the story has grown over the last 8 years. As I speak, Cherry and Squeal, a young female warthog and her baby, are lying outside our office door, sleeping.

For those who have never witnessed it, the warthogs have a symbiotic relationship with hyaena, where the warthogs occupy the hyaena dens for them at night while they are out hunting, to keep snakes and other intruders out of their dens.

The photograph of Ade and some of her warthogs inspecting her handy work bears testimony that some of us humans still have that almost magical empathy with wild animals.