Zoo Rowling out lovable Demon Pigs Budi and Beth

PIG UGLY

Budi and Beth

LONDON Zoo has welcomed its first “demon pigs”, said to be the ugliest porkers on Earth.

The hairless babirusa, named Budi and Beth, have been likened to creatures from Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s fantasy world.

Zookeeper Hannah Joy said: “With their wrinkly grey skin and long wet snouts, no one could call babirusa pigs beautiful.

“In fact, their traditional nicknames aren’t kind at all; people who live alongside them in Indonesia call them rat pigs or demon pigs, because of their long, misshapen tusks – which are actually their teeth growing through their noses that curl backwards.

“Budi has very Lupin-like features while Beth resembles Dobby and just like those famous characters they’ve absolutely won us all over. The way they wag their long stringy tails when they’re happy is a joy to see.

“People might say that Budi and Beth have faces that only Newt Scamander could love, but they really are fantastic beasts who need our help.” Beth, two, and Budi, one, arrived last Friday, less than a month after the zoo reopened. They will spend a few weeks settling into their dens before venturing outside where visitors will be able to see them.

They have come as part of an international breeding programme for the species, classed as “vulnerable” due to habitat loss and hunting.

Hannah added: “Babirusa fulfil an important role in forest ecology - turning the soil and spreading seeds as they forage.”