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History of KuneKune Pigs in America

February 6, 2012  See Updates Below

For information on the history of the KuneKune Pig breed prior to coming to America, please see the many articles found on the internet by doing a simple search.  The authority on this subject is, of course, the New Zealand Kunekune Association.  Here are a few links to pages that provide what seems to be accurate information:

http://www.kunekune.co.nz/kunekune-history.html
http://www.gavinmenzies.net/pages/evidence-1421/content.asp?EvidenceID=288
http://www.britishkunekunesociety.org.uk/
http://kunekunekune.t35.com/hispig.html
http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/kunekune.html

Prior to 1995, there were no KuneKune Pigs in America.  In mid 1995, Katie Rigby of Abilene, Kansas imported her first group of pigs which included KuneKunes and  Captain Cookers directly from New Zealand with the assistance of members of the New Zealand Kunekune (Breeders') Association and approval by the Elders of the Maori people.  On a second trip to New Zealand, she was accompanied by Gwin (Brooks) Stam of Jefferson, Oregon who partnered with her in getting additional KuneKunes into this country.  Ms. Rigby retained most of the imported pigs, but some would travel to Oregon to become the "West Coast Herd".  Later, Mrs. Stam partnered with Pam Bell of Northern California and together they established a small breeding operation that mostly remained within the Pacific Northwest.  This herd has all but completely died out.

Rigby, being extremely protective of the breed, was very selective about who would get breeding animals and in more recent years, sold only spayed and neutered pigs to those she considered "qualified".  Ms. Rigby was the founder of the now defunct "Kunekune Registry of the Americas" and "OINK" corporation.  In 2007, her herd consisting of purebred Kunekunes, Captain Cookers, Pot-bellied Pigs, and other breeds was sorted into three distinct groups.  Breeding Kunekunes were designated to go to two separate locations.  One group now resides in New York where Dawn Camp of Camp Skipping Pig selectively breeds and raises "pet" kunekune pigs.  The remaining purebred kunes went to "Kunekune Preserve USA" owned and operated by Cyndi Berry of Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina where the breeding program thoughtfully considers the conservation and improvement of the breed.

In 2005, Jim and Lori Enright of USA KuneKunes imported the first kunekune pigs from Great Britain.  While on a pig buying trip to England with several swine experts from two universities and a swine genetics group, Lori Enright was able to acquire foundation breeding stock for the Enright's future breeding program.  The Enrights have been instrumental in promoting the breed in this country and are the first breeders to freely sell breeding stock to others.  USA Kunekunes supplied the foundation breeding stock to all breeding programs established from 2006 until 2009.  Mr. and Mrs. Enright are the co-founders of the official breed registry in the United States, American KuneKune Breeders' Association established in 2006.

Update (January 2, 2011):  USA KuneKunes is now the first breeding operation to obtain breeding stock directly from both the UK and New Zealand via the Kunekune (Pig) Preservation Project, a conservation effort founded by Jim and Lori Enright.  Adding a new Boar Line and Sow Line via  imported pigs from New Zealand, USA KuneKunes is achieving their commitment and goals toward the continued diversification of the Kunekune Pig breed in the U.S., North American, and the world.

Update (October 11, 2011)  In 2010, Susan Drake of Long Island Kunekunes imported two pigs from Great Britian, the Tutaki boar line and Rebecca Gina sow line.  These two lines are not known to exist in America before this time.

It should be noted that when the USA Herd of Kunekune Pigs first began their breeding program and began to ship breeding stock to all parts of the country, the bloodlines were extremely limited.  In 2009 Lori Enright of USA Kunekunes and Cyndi Berry of Kunekune Preserve USA partnered to provide the genetics from the two closed herds to one another.  This immediately increased the bloodlines by double.  Prior to that time, the genetics of KKP were unavailable to buyers.  Recently (2010), USA Kunekunes has added additional bloodlines through the direct import of pigs from New Zealand.  Additionally, Lori Enright "discovered" an until then "unused" boar line that existed in the KKP herd through pedigrees provided to AKBA by Cyndi Berry.  To date, there are a total of eleven registered bloodlines in the U.S., six boar lines and five sow lines.

UPDATE February 6, 2012:  AKBA is pleased to say that the number of bloodlines in the USA has increased and is continuing to increase with new imports in 2012.  Olde Reminisce Farms/USA Kunekunes has obtained two F1 generation pigs from the New Zealand imports of 2010, one boar line and one sow line, yet to be named.  In addition, Goose Meadow Farms has imported an additional five bloodlines not previously in the United States along with two pigs whose bloodlines are currently represented here.


http://www.wattnet.com/newsletters/Pig/pdf/jun05pigenews.pdf   (scroll down to Update on Companies 2005)

Sources:  Lori Enright, Katie Rigby, Gwin Stam, Pam Bell, Cyndi Berry, NZ Kunekune Assoc., public documents and unnamed sources.






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