Choctaw Hog

The Choctaw Hog is a breed of domestic pig historically kept by Native Americans, descended from Spanish livestock brought to the Americas beginning in the sixteenth century. Its ancestors traveled with the Choctaw people during the forced removals to Oklahoma Territory in the early eighteen hundreds, and the breed took its modern form there. It is a small pig, typically around 120 pounds, usually black sometimes with white markings, and it carries two traits inherited from its Spanish ancestors: fused toes forming a single mulefoot-like hoof and fleshy neck wattles. Choctaw Hogs are quick, athletic animals built for extensive grazing rather than confinement. Fewer than about one hundred animals remain, mostly within the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists the breed as critically rare; it has no commercial meat value and no official registry, which makes conservation difficult despite its cultural importance.