Six little piggies thrill socks off Kiwi rangers
23 Jul 2010
Willowbank’s newest residents are just a little on the porky side - but that’s not worrying rangers who are excited about the latest arrivals at the Christchurch - New Zealand animal sanctuary.
Six bouncing kunekune piglets have been born to Hercules and Minnie, two of Willowbank Wildlife Reserve’s four adult pigs.
Kunekune means ‘fat and round’ in Māori, and the species of cuddly pigs is unique to New Zealand.
Early Māori kept kunekune for domestic consumption but, with the arrival of Europeans and a greater variety of foods, the kunekune nearly slipped into extinction.
Only about 50 pure-bred pigs were left in the country by the early 1980s, but thanks to conservation efforts by wildlife parks, zoos and sanctuaries around New Zealand, the kunekune is today a thriving breed.
Kunekune pigs can now be found all around the world, from Guatemala and North America to Britain, where their placid, friendly nature makes them ideal pets. There are kunekune breeding societies in the UK, France and the US.
Piggy haven
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve - one of the first organisations to step into the fight to bring the kunekune pig back from the brink of extinction - took on about 16-18 wild pigs for breeding in 1979.
The original Willowbank kunekune were collected from Māori marae / villages, and private owners in North Island coastal areas where they still existed.
The park keeps four adult kunekune, four ‘teenagers’ and that makes 14 with the six adorable new additions. The pigs live in a natural outdoors display area complete with the latest in modern piggy amenities including fresh air, sunshine, sleeping hut, troughs and plenty of hay.
Auckland Zoo also keeps a pair of kunekune pigs called Neena and Alma. The pair recently had to go on the pig equivalent of Weight Watchers, as their combined weight had ballooned to 215kg. With a new exercise regime and more natural food, such as fresh fruit, Neena dropped to a svelte 86kg and Alma went down to 82kg.
Top kunekune condition
Willowbank marketing manager Jo Moore says that although Hercules is nine-years-old and Minnie is five, the two are in top kunekune condition.
"They’re very healthy although marginally overweight, kune meaning fat, so fat fat!"
Moore says that kunekune are known as a very intelligent breed and can be toilet-trained and even taught to beg for food, much like dogs. Visitors to the wildlife reserve are allowed to interact with the pigs, which helps keep them mentally stimulated.
Hercules and Minnie and their friends are fed on a diet of fruit, vegetables and ‘animal nuts’ - a commercially-produced pig nut - which has to be cut back when the pigs are deemed overweight.
The upturned noses of kunekune also mean that the pigs don’t root much, and prefer to grass feed in the wild.
The most common kunekune colours are black, white, brown, tan, gold and cream - with variations in coat spots and patches. Breeders will often recommend that pigs are sold in pairs, so they can keep each other company.
Petunia Kunekune
And then there was the story Petunia ... a friendly three-month-old kunekune-cross that won local hearts when she trotted her way across Forth St, in the heart of Dunedin’s student precinct.
A student left the stray piglet - which was believed to have been living somewhere in the area, possibly as "a garbage can for some students" - with staff at Otago Polytechnic.
Petunia quickly won over her new friends who were amused to find her rooting through their bags in search of muffins and apples to eat.
The piglet was eventually passed on to the Otago SPCA animal rescue, and veterinary nurse Lisa Gerard told a local newspaper it was not the first time a piglet had escaped from someone’s flat.
Now Petunia has a new home to go to on a lifestyle farm on the Otago Peninsula, where she will have a new friend - another former SPCA kunekune pig called Princess Piggy.
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