Animal Directory Featured species in the planned Children's Farm habitat
Photo: Brian Gratwicke CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Kunekune Pig
Sus scrofa domesticus
Young Explorer Notes
Three quick things to know about the Kunekune Pig.
- Superpower
Pronounced "cooney-cooney" — the name is Maori for "fat and round," which is exactly what the breed looks like.
- Home
A gentle farmyard where kids can meet friendly animals.
- How to help
Doing great in the wild!
Scientists say this species is safe for now. We still learn about them to keep it that way.
Fun facts for everyone
- Pronounced "cooney-cooney" — the name is Maori for "fat and round," which is exactly what the breed looks like.
- A grazing pig — Kunekunes are one of the few pig breeds that thrive on grass alone, which is why they're a fixture of mixed-paddock smallholdings.
- Most individuals have two small fleshy tassels ("piri piri") hanging from the underside of the jaw — no other pig breed has them.
- Brought to the brink of extinction in the 1970s with fewer than 50 purebred animals; recovered to thousands today through cooperative breed registries in New Zealand, the UK, and the US.
- Domesticated breed; not IUCN-assessed (its wild ancestor, Sus scrofa, is listed as Least Concern).
From the master plan
The Kunekune Pig is the gentle ambassador of the Children’s Farm — chosen specifically because the breed is famously calm and rarely roots up its paddock the way other pigs do. Staged in a corner pen with shaded mud-wallow, so guests can see relaxed natural behaviour without the chaos.
No IUCN assessment exists for domestic pigs. We default to LC for consistency in the schema and call out the domestic-breed status explicitly.
Find them in
