TWO decades on from his slaughter, the legend of the giant wild pig dubbed “Hogzilla” lives on.
The monster pig was a ridiculous 12ft long and weighed a whopping 70st, it was initially thought.
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The prodigious porker was also said to have huge 18-inch tusks.
Hogzilla was a cross between wild hog and domestic pig tracked down by an American hunter in June 2004.
Chris Griffin shot and killed Hogzilla in Alapaha in the US state of Georgia on a hunting reserve, with claims of the pig’s mind-boggling measurements then attracting the world’s attention.
Scientists dug up the colossal pig’s remains the following year in a National Geographic documentary called Explorer, finding he was in fact 57st and 8.6ft long.
Still, he was confirmed to be a freakishly large creature.
Documentary producer Nancy Donnelly said: “He was an impressive beast. He was definitely a freak of nature.”
His tusks – one coming in at 18 inches and the other nearly 16 – meant a Safari Club International North American hunting record was set.
But hunting reserve owner Ken Holyoak maintained his initial measurement claims for the monster swine, arguing his body must’ve shrunk in death.
He said: “I need to stress that they did not have that much to work with, seeing as how the poor beast had been underground for nearly six months.
“As with any organic being after death, tissues will decompose and the body will atrophy, making actual measurements change over time.
“Have you ever seen a raisin after it was a grape?”
But documentary producer Nancy said the team already accounted for shrinkage.
Either way, Alapaha locals embraced Hogzilla, making him the theme of their annual festival.
The legend appeared to put the town 180 miles south of Atlanta on the map.
The New York Times reported that people from as far as California and New Jersey called in to order hog t-shirts.
But Hogzilla didn’t deliver happiness everywhere – sadly, Ken and huntsman Chris were said to have rowed over who deserved proceeds from pictures of the pig.
Yet Chris was all smiles when the documentary revealed the jumbo hog was in fact real.
According to the New York Times, he said of those doubting his story: “They’re going to eat a whole lot of humble pie … I’m going to be giggling and laughing.”
Reflecting on how he killed the pig, Chris added: “I shot him, and he turned around and walked off, and I thought, how’d I miss something that big?”
Chris said he followed the massive beast into the swamps, where he collapsed and died.
The legend of Hogzilla has lived on ever since.
Other mega animals
THE most famous giant animal legend surrounds Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch.
Bigfoot is a massive, hairy and human-like mythical creature that some claim lurks in the forests in North America.
Bigfoot has become iconic over the years with many reporting sightings of the beast – although they’re commonly accepted as hoaxes.
But researcher Claudia Ackley in 2018 even filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Wildlife because it didn’t recognise Bigfoot’s existence.
In an example better-backed by evidence, the Megalodon was a giant great white shark that once patrolled the seas.
Its jaws were so large it could’ve scoffed down a rhinoceros, it’s believed.
Luckily, it has been extinct for a million years.
Today, the blue whale is the biggest creature on earth, historically growing up to 100ft long. That’s now said to be smaller due to the impacts of whaling.
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