Tamworth Pig

ANIMAL:
Tamworth Pig   Sus domesticus

Type of Animal:
Pig

Habitat:
Farms and fields

Location(s):
Originated in U.K.  w/ populations also in U.S., Australia, New Zealand, & Canada

Appearance:
Color ranges from pale gingery-mahogany red, long narrow body, erect, pointy ears.

Food/Diet:
Vegetables, nuts, roots, bulbs, tubers, snails, fruit, grubs, worms, eggs, small rodents, young birds, carrion, hay, pig pellets, pig meal, oats, legumes, corn, rye, barley, refuse, wheat, fish, flowers, grasses, leaves, small snakes, soybeans

Status in Wild:
Domesticated. Listed as threatened in UK & USA and critically endangered in Canada, New Zealand, & Australia.

Conservation:
Breeding on farms. Bred mainly for meat.

Lifestyle:
Sows, juveniles, & piglets live in groups called sounders, often accompanied by a boar. Some breeding groups also have a few barrows (castrated males) & younger nonbreeding boars. Many nonbreeding boars & barrows (castrated males) live in bachelor groups.

Additional Info:

Called:
Male-Boar
Female-Sow
Young-Piglet
Group-Sounder

Weight:
Male-551-815 lbs
Female-440-660 lbs
Young-15 lbs

Gestation:
3.5-4 months

Height:
1.6-2.1 ft

Body Length:
3.2-4.6 ft

Life Span:
20-25 years

Tail Length:
9.36-11.76 in

Main predators of adults are bears, wolves, pumas, feral dogs, crocodilians, lynxes, & coyotes. Foxes, bobcats, & raptors prey on piglets. Golden eagles sometimes prey on small adults. 

This breed is being helped by Rare Breeds Survival Trust in UK, founded in 1973 to preserve UK-native breeds of livestock.

This breed also being preserved by American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, founded in 1993.

While they originated in England, they were imported into U.S. in 1882 & Canada in 1877. In fact, there’s more of these pigs in U.S. than anywhere else in world.

Sexually mature at 7-11 months old.

Largest piglets usually get best teats for nursing.

Boars produce very musky smell used to attract sows.

Originated in early 1800s in Sir Robert Peel’s Drayton Manor next to town of Tamworth, Staffordshire, where breed was first sold.

Fun Fact(s):
Sometimes called “the aristocrat of the pig world.”

Contrary to popular belief, they’re actually quite clean. They sleep in one area & urinate/defecate in another.

Prized for its bacon above anything else.

They like mudholes & water because they can’t sweat.

Generally an even-tempered breed, unless a sow has piglets.

They’re known to be very hardy & adaptable.