Four-legged quake icon nears end of life

The West may have numerous adorable pig cartoon characters such as Peppa Pig, Wilbur, Babe, and Porky Pig, but none could perhaps match the appeal of, nor strike a chord in hundreds of millions of human hearts like, China’s real-life Strong Pig aka Zhu Jianqiang. And those hearts may soon miss a beat.

The legendary Strong Pig, survivor of the May 2008 killer Sichuan earthquake and a massive — she weighed around 150 kg when she was in the pink of her health — symbol of hope ever since, is at the ripe old age of 14 – equal to almost 95-100 human years – and immobile. A “resident” of Jianchuan Museum in Dayi county of Sichuan province for the last 13 years, Strong Pig remains, well, strong in spirit, but physical frailty means she needs human help to even stand up.

That’s a far cry from the indefatigable, gutsy, weak yet adorable piglet it was at the time of its rescue, after being trapped for 36 days in the rubble of a pigsty owned by Wan Xingming, a farmer in Tuanshan village in the city of Pengzhou. She earned for herself the name of Strong Pig, thanks to Fan Jianchuan, the museum curator, who found it remarkable that she survived the ordeal on charcoal and rainwater.

Strong Pig was to become one of the symbols of hope back then in the world’s most populous country. It also won hearts globally, said He Yong, deputy curator of the museum.

On June 22, 2008, the museum adopted it. Since then, visitors have come from far and wide to catch a glimpse of the famous pig. Natural aging process is catching up with the legend, said Gong Guocheng, Strong Pig’s keeper since 2015.

“She eats a little, has problems like aging limbs, and needs constant, long-term medication. Most of the time, she just lies in her pen,” Gong said.

According to Deputy Curator He Yong, plans are afoot to honor Strong Pig upon her passing, by preserving her body. Her den will be converted into a small museum.

Four clones of Strong Pig were born in 2010. Two lived in the museum and died of illness in 2013, according to Liu Ronghua, chief of the museum’s general office, who does not know the fate of the other two that had been living in a science park that funded the cloning.

Mama Strong Pig never met its clones as the museum maintained separate enclosures to keep foot and mouth disease at bay. Strong Pig is a remarkable animal — she understands human feelings, never relieves herself in public, nor does she squeal, Fan said.