• The bushpig inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa. Probably introduced populations are also present in Madagascar. There have also been unverified reports of their presence on the Comoro island of Mayotte. Bushpigs are mainly nocturnal. There are several subspecies.

The vernacular name ‘bushpig’ may be used for either Potamochoerus species (the other one being the red river hog.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly (given its huge range) that there are quire a few subspecies that have been recognized. This has changed regularly over the last few decades, but it is likely pretty firmly set at this point.

Subspecies recognised in 2005 (most  recent change) were:

• P. larvatus larvatus – Comoros, western Madagascar
• P. larvatus edwardsi – eastern Madagascar, syn. hova
• P. larvatus hassama – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan?
• P. larvatus koiropotamus – Cape Region
• P. larvatus nyasae – Angola, DRC, eastern South Africa, southeast Africa to southern Tanzania
• P. larvatus somaliensis – Somalia

Generally avoiding savannah and open forests, they are hard to see in many of the reserves in their range (we knew they were around during our time in the Kurger in North East South Africa, but never saw the animal. It was only in 1993, that it was recognized that the bushpig and the warthog were different animals. They can be pests on farmland within their range, however, breeding fast, hunting to control their number does not usually reduce their population a great deal.

This species is listed as least concern.