Of all of my friends, Ashley Wood was the only one who truly loved this creature, the unattractive and unlovely Warthog. Not that they are hideous like the much maligned snake or repellent like a macabre bat, but they certainly lack the cuteness factor of a lion cub or the majesty of a tiger. That was why Ashley loved them because nobody else did. Even though they will never grip the imagination like the furry cuddly animals, somebody had to befriend them, so Ashley accepted that role.
As always, Ashley might have been the eccentric iconoclast but warthogs have feelings too. As such they deserve our protection.
Main picture: A sounder of warthogs absorbing the heat from a bushveld fire