Zoo welcomes seven dwarves

10:10am Thursday 1st November 2012 in News

Zoo welcomes seven dwarves Zoo welcomes seven dwarves

THERE were squeals of delight from Dudley Zoo keepers when they discovered seven micropiglets had been born in the farm barn.

First-time mum, Poppy, has quickly taken to motherhood and is busy caring for the five boys and two girls.

The birth is also a first for the zoo, after keepers introduced Poppy to its resident micro pig, Harley.

Keepers have named the fourweek- old piglets Little Ernie, Hamm, Chuck, Brian, Wilba, Dolly and Jemima.

Curator, Matt Lewis, said: “Poppy is a first-time mum and we were worried how she would handle it, but she’s been absolutely brilliant and seems really happy.

“The babies are all doing well and are growing quickly.

“They are certainly getting lots of coos from visitors.”

Micro pigs are the smallest breed of pig and weigh just nine ounces at birth. Gestation is a precise three months, three weeks and three days.

Comments(1)

drerin says...
11:39pm Mon 5 Nov 12

I am a little stunned that a zoo would purposely breed pigs. Are they aware of the overpopulation problem with 'mini' and 'micro' pigs that end up bigger than originally thought? Rescues and sanctuaries are full of pot bellied and 'miniature' pigs and many people sacrifice a huge amount of time and money to care for and help place unwanted pigs. Please make sure you are educating the public about this issue and not promoting the desire for 'micro' pigs. Do it for the pigs sake please.

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