The Meishan () is a Chinese

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

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 ...

. It is named for Meishan County in

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

. It is a sub-group of the

Taihu Taihu (), also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu, is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and the third largest freshwater lake in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. With ...

and is a small- to medium-sized pig with large drooping ears and wrinkled black skin. Native to Southern China, the breed is best known for its large litters of 15-22 piglets. Due to its fecundity, it was imported to the United States in 1989 by the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

. All US research on the Meishan pigs was terminated in 2016 and the remaining pigs were dispersed to US farmers. In 2018 the Meishan Pig was declared critically endangered worldwide by the

Livestock 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 breed (agriculture), ra ...

. The Meishan Pig is the focus of a major conservation effort involving the Livestock Conservancy and the American Meishan Breeders Association. The number of breeders in the US is rising primarily due to the Meishan Pigs adaptability to small holder farms.

References

Pig breeds originating in China {{Pig-stub