Animeals

Easter Egg Hunt for the Hogs

When you think of animals and items that symbolize Easter, we can bet that you think of chicks, bunnies, baskets and egg hunts. This year the Virginia Zoo put a spin on a traditional Easter egg hunt, by incorporating a different type of animal, our red river hogs Oboi, Remy and Tiki.

Red river hogs are wild relatives of domesticated pigs, but are native to the African Congo. These hogs are considered the most colorful members of the pig family and have a bright reddish-orange coat with a white stripe down their backs and darker patches of brown or black around their faces and legs.

Red river hogs are omnivores and are not considered picky eaters. They will consume fruit, seeds, crops, grasses, nuts, bird eggs, reptiles and carrion, and are known for their keen sense of smell and ability to burrow their snouts into the ground in search of insects and plant roots as nutrition. And yes, similar to their other pig relatives featured in The Lion King – the warthog, red river hogs do love to slurp up grubs.

For the red river hogs’ Animeals in celebration of Easter and Oboi’s 13th birthday, Zoo Chef Yohn prepared an egg hunt with fresh dyed hard-boiled eggs, in which Zoo Keeper Carl had the exciting task of hiding and burying the eggs. By doing this, the red river hogs will use natural behaviors to forage and find their meal – but don’t worry, their extensive sense of smell and strong snouts should make this an easy task.

Now we all know you’re just dyeing (pun intended) to see them in action, so enjoy this Virtual Voyage of Oboi, Remy and Tiki on an Easter Egg Hunt!