Lost Piglet Taken In By Hospitable Cows

In Germany a wild boar piglet was separated from her peers, probably when the group (called a “sounder”) crossed a river. Fortunately the lone pig found some friends in a herd of cows, which have now adopted her as one of their own.

Farmer Friedrich Stapel told the dpa news agency that he noticed the piglet among his herd in the central German community of Brevoerd a few weeks ago. Stapel said he understands that feral hogs can cause a lot of damage, but he just can’t bring himself to chase the creature away. “To leave it alone now would be unfair.”

Someone nicknamed the piglet Frieda (or Frida, depending on which news outlet is reporting), and now that it has a name, she’s part of the family. Stapel says that he’ll bring Frieda inside the shed with the mother cows when winter comes.

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) have been raising hell in Europe and elsewhere for years, bad enough that they made it to the World Conservation Union’s most invasive species list. The WCU says they “damage crops, stock and property, and transmit many diseases.”

One little piggy, at least, is blending in nicely.

Photo credit: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa via AP