Possessing the same strange appearance as animals coming out of the fairy tale world, pig breeds such as: Indonesian deer pig, Malaysian tapir or African piggy… make many people surprised to admire. They are known as the most “weird” pig breeds on the planet. Unlike the usual pigs we see every day, the following 5 pig species have extremely strange characteristics.
1. Amazonian Manatee
It is a mammal in the family Trichechidae, order Sirenia. They are in a very critical condition. This species lives mainly in the sea, rivers, swamps. Manatees are herbivores and live entirely in water, coming to the surface only when they need to breathe. The manatee’s hobby is swimming around in tropical waters. Therefore, although they look fat, their bodies are very toned and never have excess fat.In particular, they are a vegetarian animal, so the favorite food of manatees can only be plants. Because their stomachs have to work to digest the toughest plants, their belly already accounts for 20% of their body weight. When science was not developed, people had time to mistake manatees as “mermaids”. Therefore, the scientific name Sirenia of their family comes from the mermaids siren in Greek mythology. On the surface, manatees look slow, less intelligent, but in fact manatees are very smart. Small brains don’t mean they’re not as smart as dolphins.
2. Malaysian tapir
Tapirs belong to the family Tapiridae, the only genus Tapirus. They are common in Malaysia. Around the world, all four tapir species are listed in the Red Book as endangered. It is a very large species in the pig family: up to 2m in length, 1m in height, weighing up to 300kg, even 500kg. Tapirs’ proboscis is a highly flexible structure that can move in all directions, allowing them to pick up leaves in difficult locations. Surprisingly, tapirs are very loyal animals. They have only one mate in their entire lives, although only during mating do they stay together.Tapirs like to eat fruits and leaves, especially young, soft leaves. Each day, they eat up to 40kg of food, mainly foraging at night or at dusk. Although the sight of tapirs is very poor, even blind when exposed to a lot of sunlight, however, their hearing and sense of smell are well developed. They are gentle animals, but other animals are difficult to bully them, because tapirs have thick skin on their backs and necks, protecting them from threats from jaguars, crocodiles, pythons, and tigers. However, hunting for meat and skin has significantly reduced tapir populations and more recently habitat loss has resulted in tapirs being listed as endangered.
3. Pig Mangalitsahay
Mangalitsa pig is also known as Mangalica pig. This is a rare breed of pig that originated in Hungary in the 19th century. Unlike other smooth-skinned pigs, with little hair, the Mangalitsa pig has a thick, fluffy coat like a sheep. This breed of pig has many different coat colors: black, red, gray, but the most common is blond.In the 1990s, they were almost extinct when there were less than 200 in the world because almost no one kept them. However, now, this breed of pig is increasingly popular and has escaped the danger of extinction. This Mangalitsa pig has been widely bred by scientists since 1980. Although special, their eating habits are not too fussy, easy to raise and do not need much care.Today, due to the increasing demand for Mangalitsa pigs, some farmers in Hungary have started raising this breed again.
4. African Piggy
The African wild boar is a mammal of the order Tube-toothed animals, scattered throughout the northern Sahara desert, Africa. This is considered the strangest animal in the world. People call them “land pigs” but their appearance is not completely like a normal pig but has a very strange shape. Their body is dark gray with a curved back and a long snout like a common pig, while the ears are like those of a rabbit, the tail can be up to 70cm long, quite large and tapering towards the tip to look like the tail of the kangaroo.When they are hungry, they will look for termites or ant nests, then use their forepaws to dig up termite or ant burrows, then bring out their long and slimy tongue to enjoy the “meal”. The African wild pig has a rather sparse coat. However, around the nose there are very thick tufts of hair, which act as a filter when they dig. At the same time, they can close the nose cap to prevent dust and termites (or ants) from getting in. We are very difficult to see this African piggy bank. Because they only feed at night, and during the day they hide in caves up to ten meters long underground.
5. Indonesian deer pig
This is a species of pig in Indonesia that possesses a strange appearance. Two curved fangs and two horns sprouted right on the bridge of the strange nose. This deer pig is native to Celebes and the islands of Indonesia. They have little or no feathers, and their skin is mottled with brown and gray shades, facilitating camouflage. The upper fangs of the boar are so curved and large that they stand out through the flesh, penetrating through holes to pass over the top of the snout. The two fangs on the bridge of the nose are also considered tusks. The deer is quite large. Adults weigh up to 250kg, even 300kg.Interestingly, this pig has up to 3 stomachs. Therefore, they are also known as ruminants. Deer pigs are quite omnivorous. They like leaves, roots, fruits and even animals. The giraffe’s powerful jaws can easily bite hard seeds.
Please watch the video below for more information. Thank you for visiting our website! We hope you will find something of interest on our website. Watch the video in the below: