A domesticated omnivore farmed mainly for pork. Pigs were domesticated twice, in the Near East and in China, and around 1.5 billion are raised every year.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?Can be
Mainly wild boar and feral pigs: attacks are rare but can be serious, with 665 recorded victims from 1825 to 2012.
Domesticated?Yes
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?Sometimes
Farmed mainly for meat, but some are kept as pets.
Do people eat it?Yes
Pork is the main reason pigs are kept, but eating it is forbidden in Islam and Judaism.
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
HabitatFarmland
ColoursPink, Black, Brown
SizeLarge
Weight140–300 kg for an adult, more in some breeds
Legs4
Covered inBristles
Lives ingroups
Lives for15–20 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Farmed worldwide. Escaped pigs have gone feral in many parts of the world, including the southeastern United States.
- What it eats
- An omnivore that digs in the soil with its strong, sensitive snout to find food.
Did you know
Barely sweats to cool down, which is why it wallows in mud.
An adult pig has 44 teeth, and a male’s canines can grow into tusks that never stop growing.
Often confused with
- Wild boar
A wild boar has a coat of long, coarse bristles over brown under-fur, and its piglets have pale stripes. Farm pigs are only sparsely haired.
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