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Pigs are misunderstood in many ways. Many people think of them as just fat, stupid bacon on the hoof, but pigs are intelligent, and are naturally lean, too, unless they are intentionally overfed. Pigs are unable to sweat, and, instead, they wallow in mud to cool down. This has given pigs a bad name, and caused people to think that they are dirty, nasty creatures. In fact, pigs are some of the cleanest animals around, refusing to foul their living or eating areas unless forced by necessity.
Pigs are unique as one of the only large mammals that exist, in one form or another, in every part of the world. Every continent has pigs living on it. They all eat the same type of food and water, and all cool off with a good roll in the mud. The pig became one of the first domesticated animals thousands of years ago in Europe. Wherever humans have ventured, they have brought pigs along with them. Colonists carried pigs with them to distant lands, and farming was done throughout the world. In 1997, United States hog farmers raised more than 58 million pigs to support growing demands for pork.
But pigs aren’t all exactly the same, and many of them look very different from the domesticated type raised for food. There is a endangered pig called the babirusa, found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The male has an unusual set of tusks, the result of his canine teeth curling upwards and piercing his snout. No one knows why babirusa developed these strange tusks, and appear to serve no purpose. In fact, if the pig does not wear his tusks down or lose them in combat, they will eventually grow long enough to pierce his skull and kill him. Indonesians thought this animal's bizarre tusks looked so much like a deer's antlers that they named it "babirusa," which means "pig-deer."
Another oddity found on a pig is a beard. On the island of Borneo, bearded pigs spend their days with their snout to the ground, sniffing out and eating fruit that falls from the trees. In the process, these pigs provide an essential gardening service for the forest. As they dig, their noses till the soil, creating furrows for fruit seeds that drop to the ground as they eat. Their work helps to regenerate tree growth in the rainforest.
Another weird looking pig species has tufts of hair dangling from its ears. The tassel-eared Red River Hog lives in central Africa. Both males and females have these ear tassels, which scientists suspect shake to threaten predators. Red River Hogs take advantage of the forest clearings where elephants dig for water, running up to drink once the elephants have left.
The peccary is not a pig, but it is a very close relative that shares the pig's sensitive snout. The rarest of the peccary species, the Chacoan peccary, is found in Bolivia. Only a few of these peccaries exist here, and scientists are worried that they might die out in the next 10 to 20 years. Their more successful cousins, the white-lipped peccary and the collared peccary, live in other tropical regions in Latin America.
Pigs are smarter than any other domestic animal. They are considered by animal experts to be more than twice as smart as cats and dogs, and infinitely more trainable. In France, they are trained to harvest truffles, which grow underground, sniffing them out with their keen sense of smell. Pigs have been used as guide animals for the blind and one smart pig even saved his owner from dying of a heart attack. One day, the usually tranquil pig ran squealing out into the neighbor’s yard, and when they chased him back into his house, they found his owner collapsed on the floor. The paramedics were called, and the man survived.
The popularity of pigs as pets is growing. Most people who keep them in their home own a Vietnamese potbellied pig. Originally intended for display in zoos, potbellied pigs were first imported into the United States from Vietnam in 1985. Owning one quickly grew into a fad, and the price for a potbellied pig could be several thousand dollars. Today, selling potbellied pigs is not the gold mine it once was, but potbellied pigs are still popular as pets despite the fact that they can grow to weigh 300 pounds or more if overfed. In order to sell their pigs, pig sellers often lie, telling potential buyers that a tiny potbellied piglet will only have a weight of 25 pounds when full grown. In a few weeks, the new owners discover that their pet has gone way past that limit. But if an owner doesn’t overfeed his pig, they should end up weighing no more than 100 to 150 pounds.
Some people abandon their pet pigs at shelters. Many of them are pigs who grew from babyhood to become gigantic, ravenous hogs -- natural for a pig, but more than some owners bargained for in a pet. Pig aficionados say that anyone interested in adopting a potbellied pig should understand the challenges, as well as the joys, of keeping this unusual, endearing animal as a pet. Like dogs, pet pigs must go out for walks and, like cats, they can learn to use a litter box. They enjoy playing, and can easily be trained. In addition, they generally get along well with other domestic animals. Pigs are clean pets who will stay tidy if they are bathed and groomed. To keep them cool in hot weather, owners should provide lots of clean water for them to splash and wallow in.
Pig breeders are now trying to create smaller versions of potbellied pigs, about the size of small dogs that are more suitable for apartment living. These pigs should be less of a burden to owners, who often are not prepared for a pig's girth, eating habits, and sometimes unmanageable behavior.
The pig has a long history of domesticity and service to man. For thousands of years, they have been thought of as stupid, dirty animals, but that is a myth that is being dispelled as we learn ever more about the amazing pig.
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