British Lop
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Short description|British breed of pig}}
{{Infobox pig breed
| name = British Lop
| image = British Lop sow at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.jpg
| image_alt = a pink pig with big floppy ears seem head-on
| image_caption = Sow at The Last Royal Show at Stoneleigh Park, 2009
| status = Rare breed
| altname = {{ubl|Devon Lop|Cornish White|National Long White Lop-eared Pig|White Lop}}
| country = United Kingdom
| distribution =
| standard =
| use =
| maleweight = 350 kg
| femaleweight = 300 kg
| maleheight =
| femaleheight =
| skincolour = unpigmented
| hair = white
| note =
}}
The British Lop is a traditional British breed of pig from the West Country of south-western England. It is a large, white-skinned pig with lop ears hanging forward over the face. It was formerly known as the Cornish White or Devon Lop and then, in the early twentieth century, as the Long White Lop-eared or White Lop; the modern name was adopted in the 1960s.{{r|cabi|p=565}}{{cite book |title=Choosing and Keeping Pigs |last=McDonald-Brown |first=Linda |publisher=Firefly Books |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-55407-469-3 }}
History
The earliest records of the breed are from the border of Cornwall and Devon, particularly the area around Tavistock.Dohner The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds, 2001, p.186 It is possibly related to similar breeds found around the north-western fringes of Europe, namely the Welsh, with which it was for a period in the 1920s in a combined herd-book, and the Landrace pig breeds of Scandinavia. It may also be related to the Normande pigs of France.{{cite book | title=Rare Breeds | last=Alderson | first=R. | year=1994 | publisher=Laurence King Publishing | isbn=1-85669-052-0}}
The first herd-book was published in 1921, subsequent to the popularity of classes at the Devon County Show in that year.[http://www.britishloppig.org.uk/our-society Our Society British Lop Pig Society, 31 January 2017] By the late 1930s large numbers of purebred Lops were registered, predominantly in the south-west. During the years after the Second World War, the British Government recommended that production be standardised on three breeds (the Large White, Welsh and Landrace) which led to a decline in the numbers of other breeds of pig. During the 1960s and 70s only around eleven breeders kept the British Lop going.
Characteristics
The British Lop is a large, white-skinned pig with lop ears. It is heavy-set, and much deeper in the body than the similar Welsh or Landrace pigs. The breed was developed to be able to support itself primarily on grazing, and is still often raised outdoors. Unlike most surviving British pig breeds, the British Lop appears to have had little or no input from the imported Asian pigs used in much nineteenth-century breeding.
It has a good ability to put on lean weight and is particularly noted for a gentle temperament.
Conservation status
In the twenty-first century, breed numbers are higher than they were in the 1960s and 1970s; in 2022–2023 the British Lop was one of the seven pig breeds listed as 'priority' – the highest level of risk – on the watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.{{r|rbst2}} Clarissa Dickson Wright commented that "The British Lop is rarer than the Giant Panda."{{cite news | url=http://www.scotsman.com/features/Interview-Clarissa-Dickson-Wright-chef.6732632.jp | title=Interview: Clarissa Dickson Wright, chef | date=13 March 2011 | journal=The Scotsman | access-date=16 March 2011 }}
References
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Category:Pig breeds originating in England
Category:Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist
{{British livestock|R.2}}