Habitat and Geography:
Domestic pigs were originally developed from the European Wild
Boar – Sus scrofa.
Early domesticated pigs
lived partially in the wild and partially in a domesticated
state. The pigs would roam for food a portion of the time and
return to human civilization in the evening. As civilization
progresses, these new partially
domesticated pigs were traded
by swine herdsman. These pigs were excellent
hunters for rooted plants and other forms of nutrition because
of their highly adapted sense of smell.
When
human settlements increased and forestland became scarce, farmers
began permanently domesticating pigs by keeping them in enclosed
pastures. Until recently, pigs were raised for both meat and lard
production. Modern breeds of domesticated pigs are almost
exclusively bred for meat production.
Pigs are seldom raised as pets.
These
domesticated pigs were selected for by from the
wild boar ancestor.
The domesticated pigs’ sole purpose is providing useful products to
people. Because of this, the natural habitat of
Sus scrofa domestica is
the common day farm. Domestic pigs of today could likely not survive
if they were left to fend for themselves.
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