- Danish Protest Pig
-
Danish Protest Pig
Danish Protest PigConservation status Rare breed Other names Danish Protest Pig Country of origin Germany Traits Weight Male: 350 kilograms (770 lb) Weight Female: 300 kilograms (660 lb) Notes Crossed Holsteinian and Jutlandian marsh pigs, Tamworth pig and Angeln Saddleback Pig (Sus scrofa domesticus.) The Danish Protest Pig or Rotbunte Husumer Protestschwein is a rare breed of domestic pig which due to its red color, its broad white vertical belt and a trace of a white horizontal belt resembles the colors of the Flag of Denmark. It originates in North Frisia in the beginning of the 20th century, when Danes living in the area were not allowed to raise the Danish flag.
The breed grows to a height of about 92 cm (36 in) and weighs up to 350 kg. It was probably created out of Holsteinian and Jutlandian marsh pigs, the English Tamworth pig and red variants of the Angeln Saddleback. It was recognized as a race in 1954, but after a last birth in 1968, the race was considered extinct.
Only in 1984, pigs fully corresponding to the descriptions of the race were seen again. Associations of breeders continue to breed it and to register existing pigs of this race. Breeding populations exist in the Berlin Zoological Garden, the Hanover Zoo, the Tierpark Arche Warder near Kiel, in the ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen, in Dalmsdorf (Mecklenburg), Hof Lütjensee und on the Archehof Blumencron. The Dortmund Zoo and the Tierpark Krüzen house small populations too. At the moment, around 140 specimens are alive worldwide. The German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein supports preservation of the race for its cultural value.
References
- Homepage of the breeders association (German)
- Portrait of the race (German)
- husumer-landschweine.de
- Hanover Zoo page on the Danish Protest Pig
This domestic pig-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.