The Kunekune or is a small breed of
domestic pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
from
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Kunekune are hairy with a rotund build, and may bear
wattles hanging from their lower jaws. Their colour ranges from black and white, to ginger, cream, gold-tip, black, brown, and tricoloured. They have a docile, friendly nature, and can successfully be kept as pets.
History
The breed is believed to have descended from an Asian domestic breed introduced to New Zealand in the early 19th century by whalers or traders. They differ markedly from the
feral pig
The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids.
Definition
A feral pi ...
of European origin known in New Zealand as a "Captain Cooker". The native
Māori people
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...
of New Zealand adopted Kunekune; ''kunekune'' is a
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
word meaning "fat and round".
By the 1980s, only an estimated 50 purebred Kunekune remained.
Michael Willis
Michael Willis, (born October 4, 1949), is an American television and movie character actor. Willis' credits include movie roles in ''Pushing Tin'' and ''Men in Black'', and several episodes of '' Law & Order''.
Willis was born in Lancaster, P ...
and
John Simister, wildlife park owners, started a breeding recovery programme, which encouraged other recovery efforts. , the breed no longer faces extinction, with breed societies in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In 1993, two were imported into the United States from the UK.
Behaviour
In 2017, a report of ''Science Daily'' said the Kunekune has remarkable social learning with "astonishingly good memory".
Appearance
The Kunekune is covered in hair which can be long or short, and straight or curly. Hair colours include black, brown, ginger, gold, cream, and spotted combinations. It has a medium to short, slightly upturned snout, often black, and either semilopped or pricked ears. It has a short, round body with short legs and may have two wattles (called ''piri piri'') under its chin. The Kunekune stands about tall. An adult Kunekune can weigh between , males being considerably heavier than females.
References
External links
{{Commons category
The British Kunekune Pig Society
Breeds originating from Indigenous people
Mammals of New Zealand
Pig breeds originating in New Zealand
