The British Saddleback is a modern British

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

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 ''Su ...

. It was created in 1967 by merging the surviving populations of two traditional saddleback breeds, the

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

and

Wessex Saddleback The Wessex Saddleback or Wessex Pig is a breed of domestic pig originating in the West Country of England, ( Wessex), especially in Wiltshire and the New Forest area of Hampshire. It is black, with white forequarters. In Britain it was amal ...

. It is an endangered breed, listed on the watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as at risk, the second-highest level of concern.

History

The British Saddleback was created in 1967 by merging the remaining populations of two quite different traditional saddleback breeds, the

and the

, into a single herd-book. Both breeds had declined following the publication of the Howitt report in 1955, which found breed diversity to be a handicap to the pig industry in Britain, and established a policy of concentrating production on three breeds only: the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

, the

British Landrace The British Landrace is a British domestic breed of pig and one of the most popular in the United Kingdom. It is pink with heavy drooping ears that cover most of the face and is bred for pork and bacon. The breed originated in the 1949 importati ...

and the

Large White ''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris ra ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

some 47% of pedigree sow registrations were from the Essex and Wessex breeds. In 1949 there were 2435 licensed Essex and Wessex boars, almost 25% of the total number. By 1954 the two breeds accounted for no more than 22% of sow registrations and fewer than 10% of registered boars. The recommendation of the time was to

cross-breed A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

saddleback sows with a white boar to produce a dual-purpose pig, for both pork and bacon production. The British Saddleback was listed as "endangered-maintained" by the FAO in 2007. In 2016 the Rare Breeds Survival Trust listed it as a "minority breed" rather than a rare breed. In 2012 the population was reported to be 882; by 2019 that figure had fallen to 378. In 2022 the breed was listed in DAD-IS as at risk/endangered, and in the 2022–2023 watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

was given as at risk, the second-highest level of concern. Saddlebacks have been exported to

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

, Brazil, Indonesia, the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea North Atlantic Ocean , co ...

, Nepal, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

Characteristics

The British Saddleback is large and deep in the body. It is black with a white saddle, sheet or band round the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

, shoulders and front legs; some white is allowed on the nose, tail and hind feet. It is lop-eared. The coat is fine, straight and silky.

Use

The British Saddleback is hardy and forages well, and is suitable for extensive management. It is a dual-purpose breed, used for the production of both pork and bacon. It is among the most prolific of British pig breeds, with an average litter size of approximately 10; sows have good maternal qualities.

References

{{British livestock, R.2 Pig breeds originating in England Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist