Large Black

Large Black
Large Black
Large Black boars
Conservation statusRBST (2019): endangered[1]
Other names
  • Large Black pig
  • Devon pig
  • Cornwall Black
  • Large English Black pig
  • English Black
  • English Large Black
  • Large Black hog
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    350 kg[2]
  • Female:
    300 kg[2]
  • Pig
  • Sus domesticus

The Large Black is a British breed of domestic pig. It is the only British pig that is entirely black.[2] It was created in the last years of the nineteenth century by merging the black pig populations of Devon and Cornwall in the south-west with those of Essex, Suffolk and Kent in the south-east. It is hardy, docile and prolific; it forages well and is suitable for extensive farming, but not well suited to intensive management.

It was a successful breed in the early twentieth century and was exported to many areas of the world. Population numbers declined after the Second World War, when the Howitt Report discouraged rearing of all but three pig breeds suitable for intensive pig farming.[2] By the 1960s the breed was almost extinct. Although numbers have since risen, it is still an endangered breed.[1]

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  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference rbst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).