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23 Interesting Facts About Pigs

The pig is a very important animal for agriculture. In many countries, pork is an essential part of the diet, and the simplicity of these creatures makes them easy to industrialize. In addition, the pig is a very intelligent animal, contrary to popular belief.

  • The only representative of the pig genus from Europe is the wild boar, which became the progenitor of domestic pigs.
  • Piglet is necessary for pigs to loosen the earth in order to look for food in the soil.
  • On the limbs of the pigs, there are 4 fingers, with the second and fourth of them only slightly touching the ground.
  • Pigs can eat anything – both plant foods and meat. Unlike most other modern ungulates, pigs are omnivores. This is why pig feed can contain both plants and meat.
  • Pigs are great at swimming.
  • Pigs wallow in the mud not because they are slovens, but just for the opposite reason. In this way, animals fight the parasites living on their skin – when the dirt dries, it falls off along with harmful insects. In addition, the “mud bath” protects pigs’ skin from mosquitoes and helps to cool the body in hot weather.
  • Studies have shown that pigs are among the ten smartest animals on Earth. Pigs were subjected to various tests, during which they showed a high level of intelligence, even higher than that of dogs.
  • Humans first managed to tame pigs around the eighth millennium BC, and it happened in China.
  • Domestic pigs are the backbone of agriculture in many countries. Their meat is used for food, paintbrushes are made from the bristles, and the extract of the pancreas is used in pharmacology. Dwarf pigs are increasingly becoming pets.
  • The body structure of humans and pigs is so similar that the internal organs of these animals are directly or indirectly used to treat humans. Some pig organs can be transplanted to humans, although the problem with their rejection by the immune system has not yet been fully resolved.
  • Pigs lend themselves well to training.
  • Pigs have a keen sense of smell, so they can be trained to look for certain substances (such as drugs). Besides, pigs are irreplaceable helpers of people in truffle search.
  • Pork contains a lot of parasites, so much meat should not be eaten raw and it is extremely important to subject it to careful heat treatment. Neglect of these rules can cause many infectious and parasitic diseases.
  • Adult pigs weigh between 50 and 150 kilograms.
  • Pigs communicate in their own language – scientists know about 20 typical sounds, with the help of which animals convey their desires and emotions to their relatives.
  • Pigs cannot physically look up to the sky.
  • In the middle of the last century in Denmark, one pig gave birth to 34 piglets at once.
  • Despite their seeming clumsiness, pigs are not bad runners. An adult pig can run a kilometer in 5 minutes.
  • Pigs live up to 20 years on average.
  • Babirusa, the “stag pig”, lives on only a few islands in Indonesia. She is so different from other pigs that she was singled out into a separate family, consisting of a single species. For males babirussa, very long upper and lower canines are characteristic – in older pigs, they can bend and grow into the skull.
  • Pigs don’t sweat. The only place on their body where beads of sweat can show through is a patch.
  • The atoll in the Pacific Ocean is home to pigs that feed on caught fish, and they fish at a depth of 15 meters.
Alice White

Written by Alice White

Alice White, a devoted pet lover and writer, has turned her boundless affection for animals into a fulfilling career. Originally dreaming of wildlife, her limited scientific background led her to specialize in animal literature. Now she happily spends her days researching and writing about various creatures, living her dream.

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