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Hezuo
The Hezuo pig is from the Plateau region and are located in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province, China. This breed is indigenous to the Tibetan highlands is supposed to have been introduced during a continuous period of colonization by the ancestors of modern Tibetans. However, there is no direct genetic evidence of either the local origin or exotic migration of the Tibetan pig. The altitude in this region is high (2600 m), and the temperature low . The pigs are out on pasture year round, and are characterized by long, coarse and dense bristles, a slow growth rate, and low profligacy, with a litter size of 4 to 7.
The Hezuo has not been selectively bred, and is not widely commercially farmed. It is not farmed outside Tibet in any great numbers in fact. Tibet is the most isolated, elevated region in the world, and there is a high likelihood that this breed was domesticated by the ancestors of modern Tibetans. They are very well-suited to their highly-elevated environment, and their ability to be kept outside on pasture points towards an indigenous factor in the breed. This is even more likely when the lack of specialised breeding centres, prominent in the breed of European Landrace breeds for example, refining the breed is taken into account.
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