One morning, I decided to explore the Dzundwini loop. Dzundwini is a hill that dominates the rather flat area around the Punda Maria. It is located 15 km east of the camp and it is 600 metres above sea level, a rather obviouos feature while doing the loop.

After driving about three kilometres I came to an open area where I could see many elephants together with impala, nyala, a couple of old male buffalo and some warthogs. There was water there!

I found a very large tree and parked under it to enjoy its wonderful shade and observe the animals. Then, I noted a couple of signs next to it. Reading them I learnt that ¨… next to a hollow that holds water in the rainy season, is a giant sausage tree (Kigelia africana). For centuries the shade of this tree has been used as a meeting place [for] by the locals living in the area especially when visitors passed through, and before Punda Maria Camp was completed in 1919, JJ Koetzer, the first game ranger posted to the far north, resided in the area at the base of Dzundwini…” I was under that very tree!

I spent about an hour watching the interactions between the various animals at the water, particularly the very relaxed nyala. Three bulls were very close to where I parked and they were totally unimpressed by my arrival. However, they did not appreciate the service offered by the red-billed oxpeckers that were immediately chased off.

After a while, the peace of the place was disturbed by an elephant incident. At first I thought it was a dominance issue but, after watching the video (below), I believe that it was the response of a female to the advances of a bothersome young bull.

Watchiing the elephants I saw a number of animals drinking at the back. There were lots of baboons, nyala and impala. However, when I checked them with the binoculars, I noted that a couple of what I have taken for impala in the distance were in fact warthogs.

“Wait a minute” I thought, “this is not the usual warthog colour!” They were blond! Although they were well beyond what my camera can handle (and did not come close despite my wait) I took a few bad pictures for this post.

Pondering about the reasons for this colour difference, wallowing in “blond” mud could responsible, the same way that in Tsavo National Park in Kenya elephants are stained red because of the colour of the mud there. However, there were other warthogs that showed their usual colour and this challenges this assumption (although it is probably the most likely case).

Another conceivable reason could be that these warthogs suffer from phenylalanine or tyrosine deficiency and they cannot produce the right skin pigment but a reddish-brown one that requires less amount of these aminoacids. This phenomenon takes place in other animals but I have no elements to judge whether it its the case here.

Finally, I do not believe that these are a different variety due to genetics but I give them the benefit of the doubt and call them, for the time being, the blond warthogs of Dzundwini, another reason to visit this beautiful corner of the Kruger National Park.