MosJan Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 Chris Griffin, 31, poses beside the half-ton wild hog he shot near Alapaha, Ga., in a file photo from June 17, 2004. Residents of this south Georgia town breathed a collective sigh of vindication Monday after a National Geographic (news - web sites) documentary confirmed that their legendary super swine Hogzilla was indeed real, and really, really big. (AP Photo/River Oak Plantation, File)http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20050321/capt.ny11203212155.hogzilla_unveiled_ny112.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted March 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 March 22, 2005—Hogzilla lives! Well, he used to, anyway, according to scientists in a National Geographic Explorer documentary that confirmed the massive swine's existence Sunday night. Georgia hunting guide Chris Griffin (pictured with Hogzilla) shot the allegedly 12-foot (3.7-meter), 1,000-pound (454-kilogram) hog in June 2004. Ever since, the controversy has ballooned along with the legend. Some critics cried hoax. Others said Hogzilla was a homebody: Domestic pigs can grow to 1,000 pounds. Wild ones rarely exceed 500 pounds (228 kilograms). Scientists working with the National Geographic Society dug up the swine in November 2004 to analyze his remains and test his DNA. Hogzilla, they announced on Sunday's documentary, was part wild boar and part domestic pig. The experts estimated that he would have weighed only about 800 pounds (363 kilograms) and measured about 8 feet (2.4 meters). Hogzilla's tusks—one nearly 18 inches (46 centimeters)—set a North American Safari Club International record. But it's a dubious distinction. Such length, one scientist said, could only have been achieved in a pen. So the jury is still out on whether Hogzilla was wild at heart or a pig in a poke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted March 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/images/050322_hogzilla3.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted March 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 Posted on Tue, Mar. 22, 2005 Associated Press file photo The image from which a legend grew: The 2004 picture of Chris Griffin posing with the Hogzilla carcass near Alapaha, Ga. Hogzilla lore was a bit of a stretch Exhumed boar was large, but not 12 feet Scientists examining the remains of Hogzilla — Georgia's tusked, super swine shot dead in June — have confirmed that the mystery beast existed, even if it was smaller than billed. Residents of Alapaha, Ga., joined a curious nation Sunday to watch a broadcast on the National Geographic Channel, which had assigned experts to exhume Hogzilla and conduct DNA testing. They estimated that the hairy hog had weighed 800 pounds and stretched roughly 8 feet in length. He was part domestic and part wild boar, the tests showed. Last year, the south Geogia town made international news after a photograph circulated of hunting guide Chris Griffin posing beside the alleged 1,000 pound, 12-foot animal hanging from a backhoe. While Alapaha's residents adopted a Hogzilla theme for its fall festival, skeptics around the world wondered whether Griffin and others had faked the whole thing. In fact, scientists working for National Geographic's “Explorer” program found that Hogzilla's tusks, measuring 17 10/16 inches long, set a Safari Club International North American free-range record. Ken Holyoak, owner of the hunting preserve where Hogzilla was shot, issued a “rebuttal” Monday in an effort to explain the behemoth's apparent shrinkage: “As with any organic being after death, tissues will decompose and the body will atrophy. … Have you ever seen a raisin after it was a grape?” Nancy Donnelly, producer of the documentary, said scientists considered decomposition when estimating Hogzilla's size. Still, “he was an impressive beast,” she said. “Definitely a freak of nature.” — Star news services Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harut Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 so why didn't they eat it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 so why didn't they eat it? style_images/master/snapback.png My thoughts exactly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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