The forests of Mount Kenya hold three species of wild pig -warthog, the Bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus)and the Giant Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni), the latter two are nocturnal with Bushpig being common but the Giant Forest Hog being rare and elusive (first described by Science in 1904).

On our first night at Mountain Lodge I didn't go to bed until 03:00. I saw two (?three) different leopards and a number of groups of Bushpig. At about 02:45 the small gang of watchers in the night were treated to a visit by a small group of Giant Forest Hogs which included a boar, two sows and three half-grown animals. Unfortunately they kept to the distant most dimly lit section of the waterhole and so I couldn't get any usable images. One of the other tourists present had a night vision monocular which he kindly passed around allowing good views (albeit in an eerie green light) of this spectacular pig which is huge, dark and shaggy. As this amazing encounter couldn't be bettered I headed off to bed a happy man!