Pigs a Handbook of the Breeds of the World

This study draws attention to the immense diversity in the pigs of the world. It is a guide to the breeds and types of domesticated pig, as well as their wild ancestors and relatives in detail. For at least 40,000 years pigs have been a major source of animal protein in the human diet, and they have also played an essential role in some societies far beyond that of providing meat and manure, or turning the soil for planting crops. Far from being merely a breed catalogue, this book paints the setting in which pigs of all kinds exist - whether wild, domesticated or feral - and the factors that have shaped them. These include: the natural environments to which they have adapted themselves; the historical movements of pig-keeping cultures and hence the spread of pig domestication; the arrival of domesticated pigs in unlikely places in the company of the old navigators and explorers; the importance of pigs in certain cultures, as well as in agriculture; historical and current national pig industries, and the often complicated and intriguing detective stories about the history of different breeds. Above all, the book takes a global look at pigs - a context which gives a much broader perspective to their development, and also emphasizes the internationality of the pig. The breed entries are gathered in geographical sections according to the breed's country of origin. Each section has an introduction, which sets the region's pigs in a cultural, as well as an agricultural context. The development of each breed is traced, with ample reference to influential breeds which no longer exist or are rare today. Pigs are a major source of meat in all except Muslim/Hindu cultures. There are about 780 million of them in the world, nearly half of them in Asia. In the search for the perfect animal, the genetic pool needs to be as varied as possible. Which is why the preservation of the ancient breeds both European and Oriental is so vital today.