The Whole Hog: Exploring the Extraordinary Potential of Pigs

The Whole Hog: Exploring the Extraordinary Potential of Pigs

by Lyall Watson

Profile books, $130

Archaeologists working in Zengpaiyan in southern China have found pig bones in a settlement dated to 8,000BC, which ethologist Lyall Watson takes as evidence that the pig is probably the earliest domesticated creature, predating even the dog. Why the pig never ended up being man's best friend may be because it's either too intelligent to play fetch and beg, or too delicious to be friends with. Watson, whose reputation for eccentric thinking has been on the money since Supernature back in the 1960s, has been closely observing pigs since his childhood in South Africa. The Whole Hog looks at the various sub-species of wild and domesticated pig, and concludes that we could learn a lot from this creature. Reviewer Nicholas Briscoe sums up Watson's argument as being that 'we can never know the true potential of pigs because this potential lies in the hands of the pigs themselves [and] pigs remain the masters of their own destiny'. Watson suggests that science could learn a lot from pigs, although another reviewer, Oliver Pritchett, says pigs are 'too debonair to concern themselves with such solemn matters'.