Pigs eat humans, yes. In fact, there are many reported cases when people were eaten by pigs. Pigs are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and meat. Pigs won’t attack and eat you out of nowhere, but if you give them a chance – yes, they eat humans.
It’s quite unlikely to hear domestic pigs eating humans for their meal. If so, that would be quite scary.
Now, the question is: Can pigs eat a human body?
Let’s get into it deeper.
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Can a pig eat a human body?
Like any other animal, our bodies are a composition of flesh. Since pigs are omnivores, they wouldn’t say no to a human body if they can reach for one.
Some incidents show such a thing is possible. In particular news way back in 2012, a group of domestic pigs devoured their 69-year old owner.
If domestic pigs can do that, it’s a thing for their wild counterparts.
Wild boars can be quite lethal, and they prove it by numerous incidents that have happened in the past. There are about a hundred documented attacks, according to a study in 2013.
According to this particular news, wild hog attacks happen from time to time.
Since they live in the wild, they would hunt and take down anything they see as potential food.
Going back to domestic hogs, they wouldn’t likely hunt humans every time they see one. However, they would go for a kill, given the opportunity to do so.
Now, will they harm a human baby? Is it safe to place babies near domestic pig?
Related – Do pigs eat meat?
Can pigs eat a human baby?
If pigs can attack an adult human, they can also eat a helpless human baby.
Since these animals can eat almost anything, they can also devour a human baby’s soft flesh.
Such a thing would rarely happen, though. No one in its right mind would leave a baby and a pig alone.
It may happen as an accident, but a pig would be hungry enough to take on a baby if it does.
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How fast can pigs eat a human body?
A single pig may not be able to finish a human body. Give it fifteen other companions, and they may take on a human in 8 minutes.
These animals are quick when it comes to devouring their food.
If a pig would eat an uncooked flesh, it can take on two pounds for every minute.
If we are to observe, hogs can eat quite a lot of food. Their habit of eating makes them able to chew loads of amounts of food.
It’s also the reason why it requires a lot of resources to raise these animals.
These large amounts of consumption get compensated for their fast growth.
Still, don’t go feeding human flesh to your pigs! (Seriously, though. Be careful.)
Can a pig eat a human in 8 minutes?
A pig can eat a human in 8 minutes, but not alone.
As I said above, it would require fifteen more pigs, a total of sixteen, to eat a whole 200-pound human body.
Generally, a hog should eat only 6-8 pounds of food in a day. Thus, a pig cannot take on a mature human in a day, much more within only a few minutes.
If a hog gets its hands on a baby, it may finish in single eating.
Whatever the age, it doesn’t seem very pleasant to think about these things.
Thus, always be careful around pigs. Despite being domesticated, they are still animals, and they can act against you at any time.
Do pigs attack humans?
Pigs are omnivores and not obligate carnivores. Thus, while they can thrive on plant-based food, they would also attack humans if they run out of food to eat.
At the same time, their way of life would also be a variable in this manner.
Wild boars are likely the ones inclined to attack humans than the domestic ones.
The reason is that they thrive on their hunt to survive. On the other hand, domestic hogs rely on the feed from their owner.
The domestic hogs that attack humans did it likely out of extreme hunger.
In short, pigs that eat humans likely do it out of instinct, and they would devour them to survive, not to be mean.
Now, let’s get to the fun part!
Movies with pigs eating humans
If ever such a horrible act would serve as entertainment, that would be with a film.
One particular film that portrayed such an act is Hannibal. It’s a 2001 thriller film directed by Ridley Scott.
In a particular scene in the movie, it showed how a group of boars devour human bodies.
Another movie is Snatch, although it never showed any scene of a pig eating a human.
Summary
Pigs, be it wild or domesticated, can and will eat human bodies if given the opportunity. Still, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t feed and care for these animals.
Such a fact can be quite entertaining to know, and it leads us to a lesson that we need to be wary of them. Despite being domesticated, these animals can still cause us harm.
Resources
Image credits – Photos by Kimberly Lake and Nathaniel Yeo on Unsplash
