Ever wondered if pigs eat humans? Well, we answered that in this article.
In one of its scenes, Hannibal, a 2001 thriller directed by Ridley Scott, shows how some boars passionately devoured human bodies. Also, there have been incidents where hogs are caught eating babies and dead bodies.
This now leads to the mainstream media asking. “Do pigs eat humans?”
Do pigs eat humans?
Pigs feed on flesh because they are omnivorous. Starved pigs can go the extra mile of eating humans, especially if humans are still. When a human faints, collapses or dies off in an open space or close to the pigs’ pen, there is a high chance that the pigs will completely devour the human without leaving any remnants.
This makes starved pigs quite dangerous. However, pigs are not to be feared as no dangerous animals exist. There are reasons why they indulge in this, and some of the reasons are:
Firstly, you should understand that pigs are not predatory or carnivores. Most reported cases where pigs ate humans were mainly when the pigs were starved, abused, or abandoned. When a pig is starved, no picky eaters, including humans, may go for anything they see.
Also, the hogs do not hunt for humans and go the extra mile looking for human flesh to eat. They only feed on unconscious, dead, or humans that do not show mobility, which is when they are starved. So the framers should be held for such behaviors.
Do Pigs Eat Human Babies?
Pigs are food opportunists; if they eat adult human beings, they won’t stop eating human babies. The soft human flesh of the babies will be devoured in a couple of minutes.
However, incidents of pigs eating babies are so rare. And you should know that pigs aren’t smart enough to take on babies; they aren’t hunters. Any time it happens is usually an accident, or the baby is dead and left in an open space where pigs visit.
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Do Pigs Attack Humans?
Domestic Pigs are mainly omnivores as they primarily feed on plant-based food and hardly have the tendency to hunt. However, wild boars aren’t the same.
Unlike domestic pigs, wild boars tend to attach to humans when they are starved of food. Wild boars have carnivorous tendencies since they live in the bush and must hunt to feed.
However, in the case of domestic pigs, it is only in the case of extreme hunger that they can attack humans; but it rarely happens. Lastly, on this point, Pigs eat humans out of instinct, an act to survive, not to revenge.
Can a pig eat a human in 8 minutes?
Pigs are heavy eaters who can eat a bucket of grains within minutes. If you have carefully observed a pig, it is constantly chewing something. This habit of always eating gave the hogs the ability to be great devourers of food.
However, a single pig cannot eat up a single adult human body; when they are in a group of fifteen, they can completely eat up an adult human body within 8 minutes, weighing about 200 pounds without leaving a trace.
Naturally, a pig can consume about 6-8 pounds of food daily, so a single hog cannot eat a mature human in a day. However, a pig can eat up a baby in single eating.
When a pig is served raw meat, it can consume two pounds every minute; this shows that they are quick to eat. This is one of the reasons pigs grow fast. They eat a lot, grow fat and fast. If you have observed, you can hardly see a lean hog except for starved wild boars.
How many pigs does it take to eat a human body?
While the topic might seem grotesque or morbid, there’s a certain anatomical curiosity: How many pigs would it take to consume a human body entirely? To tackle this question, one must first understand the prolific eating habits of pigs.
A mature pig can consume approximately 2-3% of its body weight in a single day, which is extrapolated to a standard pig of around 180kg to 200kg; this means it can eat roughly 3.6 to 6 kilograms daily.
Assuming an average human weight of 62kg, a rough estimate could posit that a single pig could theoretically consume a human body in 10 to 17 days. Adding to this, if the goal were consumption within 24 hours, it would require the feeding capacity of roughly 10 to 17 fully-grown pigs.
Incidents of Pigs Eating Humans
We have heard of pigs devouring dead bodies or live humans once. But if you haven’t, it is still good. This section will examine some incidents where pigs have devoured a baby or an adult human.
- In 2015, there was an incident where a Romanian farmer who suffered a heart attack and collapsed was bitten and eaten by a set of hungry hogs.
- In 2014, there was an incident where a Chinese toddler crawled into a pig pen and was killed and partially devoured by some Iberian pigs.
- In 2012, some pigs fed on a farmer named Terry Vance Garner, who was 69 and died close to the pigpen. He was immediately devoured after his death.
Finally, there was a Russian pig farmer who was 56 and was believed to have collapsed during an epileptic fit while feeding the pigs and was immediately attacked by the hungry pigs. The pigs bit into her face, shoulders, and various part of her body as she lay unconscious on the floor.
Conclusion
Pigs are great eaters that eat anything they come across. Pig farmers shouldn’t starve or abuse their pigs, for this single act can make them aggressive, and aggressive pigs can be dangerous.
The fact that pigs eat humans sometimes prevents us from caring for these animals. Remember that they can be one of the most loved domestic animals when you feed them well.
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