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Abstract. Mangalitsa is a rustic breed of pigs from Carpathian Basin (based in Hungary and Romania) that are descended directly from wild boar populations. The short note is a presentation of the current state of the Mangalitsa pig farming, its origin, history and evolution.
Key Words: Mangalitsa, Mangalitza, Sus scrofa ferus, Sus scrofa domesticus.
Rustic in the Real Meaning of the Word. Mangalica (Hu), Mangaliţa (Ro), Mangalitsa (US) or Mangalitza (UK) is a rustic breed of pigs (red, blonde, black or wild type) from Carpathian Basin (mainly from Hungary and Romania) that are descended directly from wild boar populations. Due to its origin, the Mangalitsa pig is unusual as it has a hairy 'fleece', similar to that of a sheep (Figure 1). The only other pig breed known for having such a long hair is the Lincolnshire Curly Coat of England, now extinct (Wikipedia 2014).
Origins, History, Evolution. There are three varieties of Mangalitsa (Figure 2). The most popular variety of the breed, the blonde Mangalitsa was developed from older hardy types of Hungarian pig (Bakonyi and Szalontai breeds) crossed with the European Wild Boar and a Serbian breed (and later others like Alföldi) in Austro-Hungary (1833) (IGWÖ - Webportal mangalitza.at). The development took place in Austro-Hungary (present day Arad county in Romania) in the early 19th century (Radnóczi 2003). The new quickgrowing "fat-type" hog did not require any special care, and so became very popular in Hungary. In 1927 the National Society of Fat-Type Hog Breeders (Mangalicatenyésztó'k Országos Egyesülete) was established, with the objective of improving the breed. Mangalitsa was the most prominent swine breed in the region until 1950 (there were 30,000 heads in Hungary in 1943) (Radnóczi 2003).
The Mangalitsa was formerly bred as a lard pig, and animals were large and round. Because of the drop in demand for lard, the breed's popularity has decreased for several decades (Alderson 1994).
In Romania, most of the...