China is the world's largest pork producer, followed by the European Union and then the United States. Around 1.5 billion pigs are raised each year, producing some 120 million tonnes of meat, often cured as bacon. Some are kept as pets.
Male pigs of any age are called boars; female pigs are called sows. Pigs are found and raised all over the world, and provide valuable products to humans, including pork, lard, leather, glue,...
Pig, wild or domestic swine, a mammal of the Suidae family. Pigs are stout-bodied, short-legged, omnivorous mammals, with thick skin usually sparsely coated with short bristles. Their hooves have two functional and two nonfunctional digits. Learn more about pigs in this article.
There is only one species of domestic pig, but there are many wild pigs and many breeds within the species.
They have insatiable appetites and smart brains, which help them to find new sources of food. Like their wild relatives, they have bristly fur, tusk-like teeth and short tails. However, domesticated pigs are the only ones whose tails curl and ears flop forwards.
Pigs are incredibly versatile creatures, thriving in a vast array of environments across nearly every continent. The wild boar, the ancestor of domestic pigs, is native to Eurasia and North Africa.
Cultural Significance Domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) is key livestock for pork, lard, and rural incomes; taboo in Jewish and Islamic traditions yet a luck symbol elsewhere. Pigs help medical research (xenotransplants) and feral pigs can harm crops, spread disease, and change habitats.
Despite their sometimes comical appearance, pigs are extremely intelligent animals, capable of recognising different people, following commands and even using tools. They are highly social mammals with feral and wild pigs often sleep in communal nests.