Year of the Pig 2019142

5th February 2019 marks the start of the Year of the Pig in the Chinese horoscope. Our Pigs gallery celebrates Domesticated and Wild Pigs in all their diversity. There are 17 species of old world pigs (Suidae), ranging in size from the tiny Indian Pygmy hog to the Giant forest hog of central Africa, and 3 species of peccaries or new world pigs (Tayassuidae). Pigs are highly social, intelligent, omnivorous mammals. The Eurasian wild boar, widely distributed in Europe, Asia and North Africa, is the ancestor of the domesticated pig, which now has an estimated total population of more than 1 billion. Pigs were one of the earliest domesticated species, probably around 9,000 years ago.