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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2010
Populations of domestic pigs, very different in appearance and size to recently imported exotic breeds, are found in many countries in Africa. Although often referred to as indigenous or native, in East and Southern Africa at least, they may be descended from stock originally introduced by Europeans, probably in the nineteenth century (Mason and Maule, 1960). Diverse phenotypes have developed in different parts of the continent (e.g. Jollans, 1959; Joubert, Combrinck and Bonsma, 1960), and reports generally refer to their poor conformation, slow growth rates and low productivity. To some extent this is probably a reflection of their environment and diet, since they largely subsist by foraging around human habitations and cultivations (Epstein, 1971).