Hogzilla

I'd intended to post on this yesterday after the story showed up on FARK but it totally slipped my mind- but I couldn't let it lie. Seems that the picture which did the rounds on the internet last year of Hogzilla- a Georgia hog rumoured to measure 12 feet in length and weigh 1,000lbs with 9inch tusks- was not a trick of perspective or Photoshop; it's real.

Seems that National Geographic got interested in the story and they did a bit of sleuthing. Hogzilla was a real feral hog, shot and killed by a hunter last year (wonder what he was packing?). The measurements the hunter gave were, however, a little on the generous side. NG put Hogzilla at seven and a half feet long and weighing about 800lbs. According to this Snopes article when a hog is hung it can add up to five feet to the length, perhaps explaining the difference. The 1,000lbs figure was of course an estimate and I don't think anyone could blame these guys for guessing a hog that big to weight that much. NG also tested Hogzilla's DNA and it turns out he had wild boar somewhere in his ancestry. I wonder if there are any more examples of the Hogzilla clan out there?