The Sarda or Suino Sardo () is an Italian

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 ...

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 ...

from the Mediterranean island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. It is raised mainly in the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Ogliastra The province of Ogliastra ( , ) was a former Provinces of Italy, province in eastern Sardinia, Italy. Ogliastra was the most mountainous province in Sardinia. With only some 57,642 inhabitants, it was also the least populous province of Italy. Th ...

and

Nuoro Nuoro ( ; ) is a city and (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of Mount Ortobene. It is the capital of the province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,347 (2011), it is the sixth-largest city in Sardinia. Its ...

, but is also present in those of Medio Campidano and

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

and in the

Sarrabus-Gerrei Sarrabus-Gerrei is a sub-region of south-eastern Sardinia, Italy. Sarrabus Traditionally Sarrabus, probably from the Roman-time city of Sarcopos, occupies the area of the communes of Castiadas, Muravera, San Vito, Sardinia, San Vito and Villaputz ...

sub-region. The Sarda breed was officially recognised by

ministerial decree A ministerial decree or ministerial order is a decree by a ministry. With a ministerial decree the administrative department is delegated the task to impose a formal judgement or mandate. Ministerial decrees are usually imposed under the authorit ...

on 8 June 2006 and became the sixth autochthonous pig breed recognised by the

Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (), or MASAF, is an Italian government department. It was formed in 1946 as the Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste ("Ministry of Agriculture and Forests"), and following the refe ...

, the Italian ministry of agriculture and forestry.

History

The earliest detailed description of Sardinian pigs was written by Francesco Cetti in 1774, in his ': Both the description and the accompanying illustration are comparable to present-day Sarda pigs and to the modern breed standard. The

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...

was established in 2006, and is kept by the , the Italian national association of pig breeders. At the end of 2012 there were 575 pigs registered. In 2007, shortly after the breed was officially recognised, the total population was reported to consist of seventy-eight animals, with four boars and six breeding sows; it is likely that the actual numbers were much larger. The population reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

for 2023 numbered 874 pigs in all, with a breeding stock of 273 sows and 49 boars; the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of the breed in 2025 was "at risk/endangered".

Characteristics

The Sarda is a small pig, the smallest of the Italian breeds: height at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

is approximately ; boars weigh on average. The coat colour is highly variable: it may be black, fulvous, grey, red or white, either solid-coloured or with rounded patches or blotches of colour; the skin partially or wholly pigmented.

Use

Management is almost always completely extensive: the pigs are allowed to range freely in wooded mountain areas, often including public land, where they feed on acorns, chestnuts and roots. Additional feed is given only in the summer, when natural sources of food are scarce. Pigmen train the pigs to come at their call to the usual feeding-place; feed is often given directly on the ground, or at the side of the road.

References

Pig breeds originating in Italy Italian products with protected designation of origin {{bots, deny=Citation bot