Meet the men who saved classic Kiwi pigs
Meets the men who brought the kunekune pig back from the brink.
The kunekune is New Zealand’s pig.
‘‘If Walt Disney was to draw a caricature of a pig I imagine him drawing something like a kune. It’s just a larger than life, lovely little animal,’’ says Staglands Wildlife Reserve founder John Simister.
Every morning in rural Upper Hutt he feeds his pigs. Grunting through upturned snouts, and with bellies so low they nearly kiss the ground – they really are a walking parody of a cartoon porker.
Simister knows them better than most – he and his mate Michael Willis are credited with saving the kunekune.
Nearly half a century ago the pair embarked on a 10-day trip around the North Island searching out rural blocks for survivors of the unique species which are believed to have been introduced to New Zealand in the early 19th century.
Now popular pets, kunekune are bred in New Zealand, the US, Europe and Britain.
While the origins of the kunekune are unclear, they are almost certainly derived from a domestic Asian breed left with Ma¯ori by whalers or traders. The word kunekune translates from Ma¯ori to mean fat or round.
Having arrived in New Zealand from England in 1967, Simister had never heard of the species when he saw a pair of them at Hilldale Game Farm, now Hamilton Zoo, in the mid-1970s.
He wanted some for himself, but Hilldale staff couldn’t say where he could find more. The park’s pair were past breeding age.
Attempts to research the pig turned up next to nothing and it quickly became apparent they were not common.
He called on Willis, founder of Christchurch’s Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, who has since been involved in the conservation of other rare breeds. At that time he’d never heard of the pigs either.
After organising a couple of leads to chase, the pair struck out in 1978 to see if kunekune were still out there.
Simister says they went from ‘‘Harry on the West Coast to Fred on the East Coast, and they all sort of remembered kunes but... hadn’t seen them for ages’’.
‘‘There was always someone up the road who they thought would be able to help, so we just kept looking and driving and finally found a few.’’
Willis says the animals were few and far between, being found
in ones and twos. He believes there may have only been about 60 animals left at the time.
The pigs were found in isolated areas where there were populations of Ma¯ori. It was the tangata whenua in the backblocks of places like Taranaki, King Country and Waikato who turned out to be the greatest source of information.
Maori considered kunekune ‘‘ their’’ pig, their ‘‘ treasure’’, Simister said.
Willis agrees, saying, ‘‘ Europeans didn’t know about them.
You could call in and see a pig farmer, and he wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about. Call in at a country pub to talk to some Ma¯ori shearers, and they knew about them’’.
‘‘ It was getting the trust of Ma¯ori and listening to what they had to say. They’d say they didn’t have any for sale, but we’d spend some time having cups of tea and even work with them, and on the way out they might give us one or two.’’
Having circled twice Simister and the island Willis col
lected about 18 pigs, and began breeding them at Staglands and Willowbank.
Simister said they make lovely pets, being quiet and gentle. ‘‘They treat you as an equal.’’
The men don’t pay much mind to their role in preserving the kunekune, though now and then Simister says he’s reminded they could have been lost.
‘‘I get quite a kick when I’m just driving around the countryside and come across two or three kunes in a paddock. It’s a good feeling.’’