Mammals, Original Wild Facts

Wild Fact #884 – Back to the Future – Iron Age Pig

Thanks for coming back to check out the 2nd Wild Fact dedicated to the unique hybrids of the world.  No we are not talking about the new Chevy Volt, we are talking about unique animal combinations. Today we are going to look at the Iron Age Pig.  It is called this because the breeders were trying to create a pig similar to the ones you would find during the Iron Age (12th Century BC).

So how did they accomplish this feat? Well, they took a male wild boar and mated it with a domestic Tamworth sow.  The result was a pig that is tamer than a wild boar but not as easily handled as the domestic pig.  Unfortunately the fate of this animal is usually as specialty sausage.  That’s right folks, people cross breed these two types of pigs to make money.  Apparently, there is a pretty big market for specialty meats in Europe. Can any of my readers confirm this for me? Specialty meat for me up here  in the Yukon is just bacon…. mmmm… bacon!

So what does this little specialty pig look like? Well it looks like a cross between a regular pig and a wild boar!  Did you even read the above paragraph? Actually, the piglets are born with stripes like the wild boars but as they get older they tend to lose their stripes, which is too bad since the piglets look pretty cute.

Iron Age Pig Fast Fact: Some of these hybrids land a sweet job as Hollywood film stars. When the directors want a wild boar but can’t handle the aggressive nature then they call in the Iron Age Pigs!  Hmmm.. maybe they need a new agent?

Have a great day everyone!

5 Comments

  1. haha… PIGS! Iron Age Pig sounds like a badass name. lol. I like pigs. Just looking at it makes me ROFL. Poor creatures though. They exist today merely for human consumption. Sometimes it makes me wonder who is acting more like a pig. Is it them or is it us? =)

    1. That is a good question, Ryhen! I think we are the bigger pigs on every front!

      The Iron Age Pig does sound tough, doesn’t it? I didn’t think of it before.

      Thanks for stopping by!

  2. Just happened to find your site while browsing the internet, GREAT SITE. I am a Classicly trained Chef, meaning I had to start and seriously study European cuisines, especially French. Yes there is a HUGE market for specialty meats in Europe, and its growing here in the U.S. too. While most of the “specialty meat” market in the U.S. consists of farm raised game (red stagg, key deer, elk, boar ect.). There has been an increase in the popularity of “exotic” meats in recent years such as ostrich, emu, water buffallo and several others. Breeding boars with domestic pigs doesn’t surprise me, the offspring will probably retain most of the flavor and texture of the boar while retaining a similar temperment to the domestic swine. Either way I would like to try some bacon from your “Iron age pig”, maybe on the side of an ostrich egg… over easy and buiscuts!

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