The Lithuanian Native pig ( lt, Lietuvos vietinė) is a

landrace A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation ...

of the

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 ...

(''Sus scrofa domesticus'') native to

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. This

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 ...

(in the broad sense) can be traced back to ancient times, and is one of the oldest pig varieties in Europe. It is a middle-sized breed. The Lithuanian Native pig's typical features include wattles on the

neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...

, and usually large black spots on the body, but colour variations include black-and-white, ginger, black, and tri-coloured. They have a friendly

temperament In psychology, temperament broadly refers to consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. Some researchers point to association of temperam ...

. Being insensitive to sun, these pigs are suitable for grazing. The Lithuanian Native's characteristics were used in producing the Lithuanian White, a standardized breed, and many Russian breeds. Now Lithuanian Native pigs are very rare even in Lithuania and in danger of extinction

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. However, since 1993 a group of about 200 animals are preserved in the Institute of Animal SciencesInstitute of Animal Sciences, page
, describing its activities, including pig breed preservation.

References

External links

Lithuanian Native
Flickr photo
Lithuanian Native
zum.lt photo
Lithuanian Native
pinigukarta.lt photo Pig breeds Pig breeds originating in Lithuania Pig landraces {{Pig-stub