View source for Biology:Ossabaw Island Hog

{{short description|Breed of swine}}
{{Infobox pig breed
| name          = Ossabaw Island Hog
| image         = Carolina, Ossabaw Island Hog.jpg
| image_alt     = An Ossabaw hog
| image_caption = An Ossabaw hog at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.
| status        = Critical
| altname       = ''Ossabaw Island''
| country       = Ossabaw Island USA
| maleweight    = Under {{convert|200|lb|kg|-1}}
| femaleweight  = Under {{convert|200|lb|kg|-1}}
}}
The '''Ossabaw Island Hog''' or '''Ossabaw Island''' is a [[Biology:Breed|breed]] of [[Biology:Domestic pig|pig]] derived from a population of [[Biology:Feral pig|feral pig]]s on Ossabaw Island, Georgia, United States. The original Ossabaw hogs are descended from swine released on the island in the 16th century by Spanish explorers. A breeding population has been established on American farms off the island, but they remain a critically endangered variety of pig.

==History==
As the Spanish explored the coast of the Americas in the 16th century, livestock such as pigs were often left on islands as a future food source.<ref name="Vorwald">{{cite book |title=The encyclopedia of historic and endangered livestock and poultry breeds |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahist00dohn |url-access=limited |last=Dohner |first=Janet Vorwald |year=2002 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08880-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahist00dohn/page/n204 190]–192 }}</ref> This was the origin of the pigs that would become the Ossabaw breed. Over the following hundreds of years, the population of these feral pigs remained isolated on Ossabaw, which is one of the Sea Islands, barrier islands off the Georgia coast, and there was very little<!--some, then? or not hybridized, period--> introduction of other domestic breeds.<ref name="Vorwald"/> Since 1978 the island has been owned by the State and managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as a preserve.<ref name="storey">{{cite book |title=Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs |last=Ekarius |first=Carol |year=2008 |pages=199–200 |publisher=Storey Publishing |isbn=978-1-60342-036-5 }}</ref>

The human population of the island was never high, and the pigs generally ranged freely over its entire acreage. Like feral pigs elsewhere in the world, those on Ossabaw have had an adverse effect on native habitat and species. The pigs are highly [[Biology:Omnivore|omnivorous]], and will consume everything from roots and tubers to small reptiles and mammals. Ossabaw hogs have even been observed feeding on white-tailed deer entrails.<ref name="plan">{{cite book|last=Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division|title=Ossabaw Island Comprehensive Management Plan|url=http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/assets/documents/CMP.pdf|date=September 29, 2000}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Ossabaw Island hogs have been documented as having a negative impact on endangered species such as the [[Biology:Loggerhead sea turtle|loggerhead sea turtle]] and [[Biology:Snowy plover|snowy plover]], disturbing nests and eating eggs.<ref name="plan"/> This, plus the varied other impacts they have on the ecosystem, have convinced the Georgia DNR to recommend the eradication of feral swine via trapping, shooting and hunting by the public.<ref name="plan"/>

Aside from the environmental concerns posed by Ossabaw Island hogs, they are also recognized as a unique genetic resource by scientists and breed conservationists. They are thought to be the only U.S. breed which is descended from the Iberian-type pigs brought to North America by the Spanish.<ref name="RAFT">{{cite book |title=Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods |last=Nabhan |first=Gary Paul |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-933392-89-9 |pages=172–173 }}</ref> A very small breeding population of Ossabaw hogs are kept off the island by farmers who market them as a form of heritage pork, and there are also herds at several zoos and farms, at Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, National Colonial Farm at Piscataway Park in Accokeek, Maryland,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://accokeekfoundation.org/livestock-conservation/|title=National Colonial Farm: Heritage Breed Livestock Conservation|last=|first=|date=2016|website=Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref> Conner Prairie Interactive History Park in Fishers, Indiana, and Barrington Living History Farm in Washington, Texas. Captive breeding populations were also previously kept by a few American universities for scientific study and conservation, but these herds were dissolved and have not contributed to the current bloodlines of Ossabaw hogs on the mainland today.<ref>{{cite book |title=Wild Pigs in the United States: Their History, Comparative Morphology, and Current Status |last=Mayer |first=John J. |author2=Jr. I. Lehr Brisbin |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8203-3137-9 |pages=212–213 }}</ref>

[[File:YoungOssabawHog.jpg|thumb|A young Ossabaw Island Hog at the Accokeek Foundation ]]

Both the island and mainland populations continue to be considered vulnerable by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC), Slow Food USA, and others.<ref name="Vorwald"/> The breed is listed as "critical" on the priority list of the ALBC,<ref name="ALBC">{{cite web |url=http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/Ossabaw.html |title=Ossabaw Island Hog |work=albc-usa.org |publisher=American Livestock Breeds Conservancy }}</ref> and is also included in Slow Food's Ark of Taste, a catalog of heritage foods in danger of extinction.<ref name="slowfood">{{cite web |url=http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/ossabaw_island_hog/ |title=Ossabaw Island Hog |work=Ark of Taste |publisher=Slow Food USA }}</ref>

The population on the island is currently controlled by the methods advised by the DNR, and it is unclear how much longer the population will avoid eradication entirely. Due to the presence of vesicular stomatitis and [[Biology:Pseudorabies|pseudorabies]] on the island,<ref name="ALBC"/> no more live pigs may be removed from the island. The mainland U.S. population kept by farmers is preserved because of interest from the [[Biology:Sustainable agriculture|sustainable agriculture]] movement.

==Characteristics==
[[File:Ossabaw Island Hog.jpg|thumb|right|An Ossabaw Island hog with a spotted coat]]

The breed characteristics of Ossabaw Island hogs in both [[Biology:Phenotype|phenotype]] and [[Biology:Genotype|genotype]] have been shaped by the pressures of feral life in an island habitat. They are small swine, less than {{convert|20|in}} tall and weighing less than {{convert|200|lb|kg|-1}} at maturity.<ref name="storey"/> This size is partly due to the phenomenon of [[Biology:Insular dwarfism|insular dwarfism]],<ref name="slowfood"/> and individuals kept in off-island farms may grow slightly larger in successive generations. They are also hardy and very good foragers, making them useful in extensive farming (as opposed to intensive pig farming).<ref name="storey"/>

Ossabaw hogs appear in a wide range of colors, with the most common being black and a spotted variety. Ossabaw piglets do not show the striping that wild boars do, and because of their isolation on the island they are not hybridized, as the razorback may be. They additionally have long snouts, upright ears, and a heavy coat of bristles compared to other pig breeds. Ossabaws are noted to be intelligent and to have a friendly temperament.<ref name="storey"/>

As a result of life on an island where the abundance and scarcity of food is seasonally variable, Ossabaw hogs store fat in a different manner than most domestic pigs and have a "[[Biology:Thrifty gene hypothesis|thrifty gene]]". In conditions with constant supplies of food (such as on farms and in the laboratory) they accrue more fat than other pigs and may develop a "prediabetes" condition.<ref name="storey"/> Because this trait makes them useful as a model organism, scientific studies on [[Medicine:Metabolic syndrome|metabolic syndrome]] and [[Medicine:Diabetes mellitus type 2|Type II diabetes]] have been conducted on the Ossabaw hog.<ref name="Swindle">{{cite book |last=Sturek |first=Michael |author2=Mouhamad Alloosh |author3=James Wenzel |author4=James P. Byrd |author5=Jason M. Edwards |author6=Pamela G. Lloyd |author7=Johnathan D. Tune |author8=Keith L. March |author9=Michael A. Miller |author10=Eric A. Mokelke |author11=I. Lehr Brisbin Jr |editor-last=Swindle
|editor-first=M. Michael |title=Swine in the Laboratory: Surgery, Anesthesia, Imaging, and Experimental Techniques |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YuT7h-rAdIsC&q=ossabaw+island+pig&pg=PT417 |accessdate=5 December 2009 |edition=2nd |year=2007 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, Florida |isbn=978-0-8493-9278-8 |pages=397–403 |chapter=Chapter 18: Ossabaw Island Miniature Swine: Cardiometabolic Syndrome Assessment }}</ref> Ossabaw hogs also have adapted to the high salt diets and minimal availability of fresh water on the island.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Salt and Water Balance of Feral versus Domestic Hampshire Hogs |last=Zervanos |first=Stan M. |author2=William D. McCort |author3=H. B. Graves |journal=Physiological Zoology |volume=56 |number=1 |date=Jan 1983 |pages=67–77 |doi=10.1086/physzool.56.1.30159967 |jstor=30159967 |s2cid=82094042 }}</ref>

The meat of Ossabaws is dark, with a unique texture,<ref name="RAFT"/> and is prized for resembling the ''jamón ibérico'' of the black Iberian pig.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |title=On the Trail of Fine Ham: First, Plant an Acorn |date=October 6, 2004 |last=Kaminsky |first=Peter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/06/dining/06HOGS.html |work={{wipe|The New York Times}}}}</ref> It is considered to be an artisanal, heritage product especially well-suited to use in pork, cured meats,<ref name="usatoday">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-01-25-pork_x.htm|title=Heritage pork: A swanky swine to dine|last=Moskowitz|first=Dara |date=25–26 January 2007 |work=[[Software:USA Today|USA Today]]|accessdate=5 December 2009}}</ref> and whole pig roasts.<ref name="RAFT"/>

==See also==
* List of domestic pig breeds
* Grice - an extinct pig from Shetland

==References==
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[[Category:Animal models]]

{{Sourceattribution|Ossabaw Island Hog}}