Karura Forest #46: This Little Pig . . .
The cache, a small black-taped tube, is hidden in the fork of a half-fallen tree, about 8m off a small grassy side trail and about 40m from the main track in a secluded part of the forest - the kind of place where this little pig would hang out . . . at night!
To Reach the Cache Location: enter the forest by Gate C (Junction 40a) on Kiambu Road at S 01 14.395 E 36 50.644. After parking and paying the entry fee, proceed due south along the small trail passing through the woodland which joins a jeep track and follow this around a bend to Junction 23 @ at S 01 14.477 E 36 50.485.
From here you have two choices, depending on your walking/caching preferences:
Plan A (anticlockwise circuit): turn right and then follow the Mau Mau Trail which runs along the river valley. After about 1km having reached Junction 25, turn left (south) and on ~300m to J19. Here turn left (east) and continue along this track to S 01 14.440 E 36 50.158 where you will see a grassy trail heading into the forest. After some 40m find your way across to the cache location.
Plan B (clockwise circuit): turn left and follow the trail to Junction 21 near the corner of a fence bordering a tree nursery. Turn right (north) here along the fence line and follow this trail for around 700m to S 01 14.440 E 36 50.158 where you will see a grassy trail heading into the forest. After some 40m find your way across to the cache location.
See GC4PD3V Karura Forest #1: Intro, info & entry for background info on the forest, opening times, entry fees, etc. and here for a detailed map of Karura & Sigiria Forests.
The circuit of Junctions 40a-23-24-25-19-18-17-16-21-22-23-23a-40a (or the reverse!) along which this cache is located is approx 5.5km and will take you past 16 caches.
The bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus) lives in forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and reedbeds in East and Southern Africa. Bushpigs are mainly nocturnal and the local sub-species
is P.l.hassama (white-faced bushpig).
Adults are 66-100 cm at the shoulder, and weigh 55-150 kg with males normally larger than females. They look like domestic pigs with a reddish-brown to dark brown colour becoming darker with age. Both sexes have a lighter-coloured mane which bristles when the animal becomes agitated. Their sharp tusks are fairly short and inconspicuous - but razor sharp! Unlike warthogs, they run with their tails down.
They are great swimmers and enjoy wallowing in mud to keep cool and protect against insect bites. Males have facial warts below the eye-bank similar to warthogs though less pronounced.
They are social animals and are found in sounders of up to 12 members, typically consisting of a dominant male and female, with other females and juveniles.
The female uses grass to build a haystack shaped nest which can be 10' wide and 3' high. Litters of 3-4 young are born in summer (Nov-Jan) after a 4-month gestation. Bushpigs can be very aggressive, especially when they have young. The male usually provides the majority of the care and protection for the piglets once they are born, except for nursing. The young are sexually maturity at 18 months. Bushpigs can survive up to 14 years in the wild.
They are omnivorous with a diet including roots, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, fruits, insect larvae, eggs, crops or carrion. They grunt softly while foraging, and make a long, resonant growl as an alarm call. They may be a significant nuisance in some agricultural regions (eg. in South Africa) and are hunted fairly extensively. However, the population of bushpigs in these areas continues to grow despite the hunting efforts, often due to inaccessible terrain, abundance of food, lack of predators, and their rapid ability to adapt to hunting methods. In Islamic parts of East Africa, it is a further nuisance because, as it is a pig, it is not permitted to be eaten. Its meat is much leaner than pork.
See here for a video of a Karura bush pig couple with their triplets and here for a bush pig pair in along a river in the forest.