The Arapawa pig is a

feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

breedGraham Duncanson (2013)
''Veterinary treatment of pigs''
Wallingford, Oxfordshire: CABI. . of

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

(''Sus scrofa'') found on

Arapaoa Island Arapaoa Island (formerly spelled Arapawa Island) is the second-largest island in the Marlborough Sounds, at the north-east tip of the South Island of New Zealand. The island has a land area of . Queen Charlotte Sound defines its western side, ...

in the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Although there are suggestions that the animals are descendants of pigs introduced to the area by

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

in 1773 and 1777, they apparently derive from

Oxford Sandy and Black The Oxford Sandy and Black is a British breed of domestic pig. It originated in the county of Oxfordshire, and is named for that and its colour, which is a sandy brown with black patches. It is believed to be one of the oldest British breeds ...

stock brought to the island by whalers of the Te Awaiti whaling station established in 1827 by

John Guard John Guard ( 1791/92 – 1857) was an English convict sent to Australia who was one of the first European settlers in the South Island of New Zealand, working as a whaler and trader. Early life Guard was born in London in 1791 or 1792. On 17 M ...

.C.M.H. Clarke, R.M. Dzieciolowski (1991)
Feral pigs in the northern South Island, New Zealand: I. Origin, distribution, and density
''Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' 21 (3): 237-247. They are known to have inhabited the island since 1839. In 1998 four piglets were removed from the island and have since bred successfully.

Description

The Arapawa pig has reverted to a

wild type The wild type (WT) is the phenotype of the typical form of a species as it occurs in nature. Originally, the wild type was conceptualized as a product of the standard "normal" allele at a locus, in contrast to that produced by a non-standard, " ...

that is quite hairy and has a mane. Compared with

Auckland Island Pig The Auckland Island pig is a feral (but now conservation-managed) landrace of domestic pig (''Sus scrofa'') found on subantarctic Auckland Island, New Zealand. Its ancestors have inhabited the island since 1807, and, as an invasive species, has ...

s, another distinctive feral breed deriving from many generations of insular isolation, Arapawa pigs are larger, and have shorter noses and tails. Compared to non-feral domesticated pigs, however, they are smaller, with a slower growth rate. They are principally sandy or tan in colouration, often with black patches. The boars weigh and the sows They have long faces and snouts, with small, pricked ears; they do not have wattles. They have wide shoulders and

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

s have a heavy shield. Their skin is thick and hard. While they are very alert, they do not have an aggressive temperament. The RBCS distinguishes between feral animals, landraces, standardised breeds and industrial strains of animals, using the definitions of the

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as ...

. The Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand recognizes "geographically defined feral livestock groups throughout New Zealand as individual breeds unique to ew Zealand" , no research has been done to determine if there is a genetic link between the Arapawa pig and other domestic breeds. The RBCS lists the Arapawa pig among its rare and minority breeds of livestock with a priority conservation rating. In 2007,

New Zealand Post NZ Post (), shortened from New Zealand Post, is a state-owned enterprise responsible for providing most postal services in New Zealand. The New Zealand Post Office, a government agency, provided postal, banking, and telecommunications servi ...

issued a series of stamps about notable pig breeds of New Zealand to commemorate the Chinese Year of the Pig. The Arapawa pig was featured in the $1.35 stamp.

References

{{reflist Feral pigs Invasive animal species in New Zealand Pig breeds originating in New Zealand Pig landraces