The earliest detailed description of Sardinian pigs was written by Francesco Cetti in 1774, in his I quadrupedi di Sardegna:[5]
What is most striking on first seeing it is the magnificence of its tail: it is not twisted, as is usual, nor short and naked, but hangs thick and straight to below the knee, [and is] thickly covered with bristle; it looks like the tail of a horse. Equally thick bristle covers the whole body, but on the ridge of the spine, the bristles stand upright almost like a blade, as far as half-way along the back; above the loins there is another threatening tuft of them.
Both the description and the accompanying illustration are comparable to present-day Sarda pigs[6] and to the modern breed standard.
Management of the Sarda pig is almost always completely open-range; the pigs are allowed to range freely in wooded mountain areas, often including public land, where they feed on acorns, chestnuts and roots. Additional feed is given only in the summer, when natural sources of food are scarce. Pigmen train the pigs to come at their call to the usual feeding-place; feed is often given directly on the ground, or at the side of the road.[1]
The herdbook was established in 2006,[7] and is kept by the Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Suini, the Italian national association of pig breeders. At the end of 2012 there were 575 pigs registered.[8]
References
^ abDaniele Bigi, Alessio Zanon (2008). Atlante delle razze autoctone: Bovini, equini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia (in Italian). Milan: Edagricole. ISBN9788850652594. p. 448–50.
^ abBreed data sheet: Sarda/Italy. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed May 2014.
Ciò, che più ferisce al primo vederlo, è la splendidezza della sua coda: non è torta, come suole, nè breve, ed ignuda, ma pende diritta, grossa, lunga oltre al ginocchio, piena di setole; pare la coda di un cavallo. Uguale abbondanza di setole ricuopre tutto il corpo, ma sopra il fil della schiena le setole istanno ritte quasi una lamina, infino alla metà della schiena; sopra i lombi ne esce un altro fiocco minaccioso.
^S. Porcu, E. Daga, S. Pintus, M. G. Usai, R. Comunian and S. Ligios (2007). Il suino di razza Sarda: storia, realtà e prospettive[permanent dead link] (in Italian). Conference papers from "Il suino Nero Siciliano ecotipo dei nebrodi: le razze suine autoctone italiane dal sapore ai sapori", Longi (ME), 5 January 2007. Accessed May 2014.
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