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. A few interesting facts about pigs:

They have poor eyesight but a very highly developed sense of smell.

Female pigs or sows can give birth to as many as 16 piglets.

Pigs have been widely used in medical research due to their physiological similarity to humans.

Recent research describes pigs as cognitively complex creatures with the ability to remember objects, perceive time and use learned information.

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 and Asia, 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.

Have a look at our Prints gallery for some very photogenic pigs.