Apparently, Sheep-Pigs Are A Thing

You’ve heard of sheep, and you’ve heard of pigs, but have you ever heard of a sheep-pig? That’s right, sheep-pigs exist!

The Mangalitsa pig is a domestic pig that originated in Hungary. It sports a thick and wooly coat, and is the last pig in existence to grow this unusual fleece. There are currently three variants of the species, differing only in color – blonde, swallow bellied, and red. As piglets, they are born with dark stripes and resemble wild boar piglets, but as they grow older, the stripes fade.

The Mangalitsa was almost lost to extinction in the 1990s, because of over farming combined with its slower growth process and smaller litters. The pig’s fat is said to be so delicious that it melts in the mouth and many refer to its meat as the “Kobe beef” of pigs. 

There have even been cases reported of animal welfare organizations stepping in and rescuing these pigs from various farms, in order to preserve the species. One of these rescue cases is Angus. Angus came from a farm that was so bad that the owner of the farm killed most of the animals before the Maine Animal Welfare Program were able to save them. But Angus made it out alive as the sole survivor, and is now being kept safely at Peace Ridge Sanctuary since his rescue in 2018.