Friday, March 29

What’s Killing the Swimming Pigs in the Exumas?

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In some circles, the swimming pigs of the Exumas are virtual celebrities. People put a visit to Big Major Cay, near Staniel Cay, where the pigs swim out to greet incoming boats (and hope for food) on their bucket lists. Over the years, the pigs have been written about in cruising guides, Forbes and Travel+Leisure; they’ve even been featured on The Today Show.

But now about half the swimming pig population has turned up dead, and nobody seems to know why. Big Major Cay doesn’t have any human population, but it did have about 20 pigs and piglets. The Bahamas Humane Society is investigating, trying to determine if the deaths were somehow caused by accidents, or whether the pigs were poisoned. Even the exact number of dead pigs is unclear, since some of the bodies were thrown into the sea.

Meanwhile, Kim Aranha, president of the humane society, told the local paper that the deaths “could just be a horrible accident,” but “I know there are a lot of silly sailors that go and feed them alcohol to try and get them drunk.”  The entire situation, she said, “is not good for the economy or tourism because if tourists come and see dead pigs on the beach, it’s not good publicity for us.”

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