National Pig Day

Facts About National Pig Day

Pigs Can Learn to Play Simple Video Games

Experimental work has shown that pigs can manipulate a joystick to move a cursor on a screen and correctly hit on-screen targets for rewards, demonstrating spatial learning and hand‑eye (snout‑eye) coordination once thought limited mainly to primates.

Although their performance was affected by their inability to see the entire screen at once, all pigs in one study learned the basic rules of the game, supporting the view that pigs understand that their own actions can control events on a screen.   

Early Pig Domestication Happened at Least Twice  

Genetic and archaeological evidence indicates that domestic pigs were independently domesticated from wild boar populations in at least two regions: Anatolia (in the Near East) and China.

Ancient DNA from Neolithic pig bones shows that early European farmers initially brought Near Eastern pigs with them, but over time those pigs were largely replaced by locally domesticated European wild boar, creating the mixed ancestry seen in today’s European herds. 

Pigs Can Use Mirrors to Find Hidden Food

In controlled experiments, pigs allowed to view a food bowl only via a mirror learned to interpret the reflection and then walked directly to the real location of the bowl behind a barrier.

Pigs without prior mirror experience, or with an opaque board instead of a mirror, failed this task, suggesting that pigs can use visual information in a mirror to build a mental map of their surroundings rather than simply treating the reflection as another animal.  

Biomedical Researchers Rely on Pigs Because They Resemble Humans

Domestic pigs are widely used in biomedical research because their organ size, skin thickness, cardiovascular anatomy, and digestive physiology are closer to humans than most other lab animals.

Pig hearts and coronary vessels are used to test stents and surgical techniques, pig skin models human wound healing and burn treatment, and miniature swine breeds have been developed specifically as models for human metabolic and cardiovascular disease.  

Pig Heart Valves Have Been Implanted in Hundreds of Thousands of Patients

Bioprosthetic heart valves made from pig (porcine) heart tissue have been used in human patients for decades as an alternative to mechanical valves that require lifelong anticoagulation.

These valves are chemically treated to reduce rejection, mounted on frames, and can last 10–20 years in many adults, which makes them especially useful for older patients and for those who cannot tolerate strong blood‑thinning medication. 

Religions Diverge Sharply on How They View Pigs 

In Judaism and Islam, pigs are classified as unclean animals and pork is prohibited, a rule that has shaped food laws and cultural identity for centuries.

In contrast, in traditional Chinese culture the pig is a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, appears as one of the twelve zodiac animals, and was historically so central to household economy that the Chinese character for “home” includes the radical for a roof sheltering a pig.  

Industrial Pig Farming Is a Major Source of Ammonia and Methane

Large-scale pig operations produce substantial amounts of manure that release ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide, contributing to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Studies in Europe estimate that pig and poultry manure together account for a significant share of agricultural ammonia emissions, while anaerobic digestion and improved manure storage can sharply reduce these gases and capture methane as a renewable energy source.