Some days, humans just generally suck. And then there are days when you realise why this planet is trying so hard to just wipe us out.
GIF: When Pigs Swim
Today is one of the days that we recognise humanity’s total worthlessness, because seven of the swimming pigs who live in the Bahamas are now dead thanks to some tourist jerks. The lovable porkers who wanted nothing more than to splash around in paradise were found floating in the ocean, and the cause of death is believed to be something that tourists fed them.
The Nassau Guardian spoke with Wayde Nixon, one of the owners of the pigs:
The pigs were given the wrong food.
We had the government vet in there [who] examined them all thoroughly. He gave them shots, he gave them medicine, and I was there and I worked with them for three days straight…
Right now it’s blowing out of proportion with people, anybody, bringing food there, anybody doing what they [want to] do. We have people coming there giving the pigs beer, rum, riding on top of them, all kinds of stuff.
It’s unclear exactly how many pigs are left but its estimated that 15 are still out there swimming, according to The Independent. And they will be swimming alone now because Nixon says humans will have to observe them from a distance, “We had them pigs there almost 30 years, and never has this happened before, but now we are going to have to regulate it.”
Kim Aranha, president of the Bahamas Humane Society, tells The Independent that she doubts there was any malicious intent involved. “I know there are a lot of silly sailors that go and feed them alcohol to try and get them drunk but that’s not to mistake them with the tour operators based out of Nassau who have treated them with excellent care,” she says.
As legend has it, a bunch silly sailors are actually responsible for the pigs’ presence in the Exuma Cays area. One version of the story claims that sailors left them on the beach briefly, intending to come back to cook them. Another story says that there was a shipwreck and the pigs swam to safety and made a home. None of this is true, but we’re going to stick with that because when the legend becomes fact… print the legend.
You can watch a ridiculous promo video below that shows off the pigs when they were free and alive and not poisoned by thoughtless human beings.