Miniature pig

A miniature pig, minipig or micro-pig is a domestic pig characterised by its unusually small size when fully grown. Some breeds of miniature pig – such as the Cerdo Cuino of Mexico, the Lon I of Vietnam, the Ras-n-Lansa of Guam in the Marianas Islands and the Wuzhishan of Hainan Island in China – are traditional breeds of those areas. Many others have been selectively bred since the mid-twentieth century specifically for laboratory use in biomedical research; among these are the Clawn and the Ohmini of Japan, the Czech Minipig, the German Göttingen Minipig, the Lee-Sung of Taiwan, the Russian Minisib, the extinct Minnesota Miniature of the United States and the Westran of Australia. Some minipigs have been bred to be marketed as companion animals. Miniature pigs generally reach their full size in about four years, and may live for up to fifteen. Some may reach a height of 50 cm (20 in) at the shoulder and a body length of 100 cm (40 in).