Been there, and what most people don't understand is that these pigs are in horrible health. The LOCALS MISTREAT / NEGELCT THEM FOR PROFIT. I believe that once good people are educated they can make better decisions and rotten people will not give a d**n either way. So I am talking to the good people right now who think seeing Swimming Pigs Of Exuma Bahamas is a good idea or fun. Exuma Water Sports Feeds into this behavior and neglect.
I am a livestock veterinarian who holds a Doctorate in veterinary medicine and am currently licensed. I specialize in livestock herds and individuals. I have several dozen swine under my care along with other livestock of various kinds, so I am very familiar with them from a medical standpoint. Pigs are actually very smart and deserving of proper care.
It became almost immediately apparent to me that several of the pigs on the island had conjunctivitis (pink eye).
What usually follows in swine is a secondary infection of chlamydia, which I suspected when looking at one of the older swine while in the water with it. Further tests on the swimming pigs would be needed to isolate exact cause.
As a tourist most people don't want to think of the MISTREATMENT OF SWIMMING PIGS FOR PROFIT by the locals (they take pictures/videos and go home, meanwhile the pigs languish on a deserted island) Why do you think they RUN into the water when they hear the boats approach, because they are starved and need food (Same way if you were stranded and heard an approaching boat, you would run too starving and hoping to be rescued) But for the Pigs of the Exumas that rescue never comes..just a life of more agony.
The pigs are not in their natural environment and were put there as a tourist trap/ attraction (Despite the BS stories locals tell tourists) . Pigs use mud to protect their delicate pink skin from the UV rays (think of how burned you would be out there all day for years with no protection ) also the mud is to protect them from insects (Have you ever been in the mangroves after dark? Try it and see if you don't get eaten alive by mosquitos and no-see-ums) . There is NO mud for them just sand. So think of the agony. If you look at the pigs you can see they have reddened skin and most have blistering particularly on the snout area. The least the greedy locals can do is use some of the proceeds of the Pig Tours to buy the swine proper shelter from the sun and some proper mud and have them thoroughly checked by an independent vet at least once a month to vaccinate and check up on the herd. But no...the locals are just greedy.( Like it or not, there is no other way to put it)
The fact of the matter is the locals in Exumas do not care so long as they make money from the pigs. One local guide even admitted to me that they go out and kill some of the pigs after a while and end up roasting them so they don't over populate. So you may be taking pictures now, but those pigs will likely later be killed after all the tourist are gone and the cameras are put away. They only need a certain amount on the island for tourism. It’s all a big PR stunt by the Bahamas to make it seem like those pigs are living in paradise.
The "Beloved Swimming Pigs" of the Bahamas is deceptive and the people who operate the tours are just money hungry and foolish people. Hopefully if you read my long comment you will think twice about feeding into this act of greed and exploitation of these pigs.
Exuma Water Sports Reviews
Been there, and what most people don't understand is that these pigs are in horrible health. The LOCALS MISTREAT / NEGELCT THEM FOR PROFIT. I believe that once good people are educated they can make better decisions and rotten people will not give a d**n either way. So I am talking to the good people right now who think seeing Swimming Pigs Of Exuma Bahamas is a good idea or fun. Exuma Water Sports Feeds into this behavior and neglect.
I am a livestock veterinarian who holds a Doctorate in veterinary medicine and am currently licensed. I specialize in livestock herds and individuals. I have several dozen swine under my care along with other livestock of various kinds, so I am very familiar with them from a medical standpoint. Pigs are actually very smart and deserving of proper care.
It became almost immediately apparent to me that several of the pigs on the island had conjunctivitis (pink eye).
What usually follows in swine is a secondary infection of chlamydia, which I suspected when looking at one of the older swine while in the water with it. Further tests on the swimming pigs would be needed to isolate exact cause.
As a tourist most people don't want to think of the MISTREATMENT OF SWIMMING PIGS FOR PROFIT by the locals (they take pictures/videos and go home, meanwhile the pigs languish on a deserted island) Why do you think they RUN into the water when they hear the boats approach, because they are starved and need food (Same way if you were stranded and heard an approaching boat, you would run too starving and hoping to be rescued) But for the Pigs of the Exumas that rescue never comes..just a life of more agony.
The pigs are not in their natural environment and were put there as a tourist trap/ attraction (Despite the BS stories locals tell tourists) . Pigs use mud to protect their delicate pink skin from the UV rays (think of how burned you would be out there all day for years with no protection ) also the mud is to protect them from insects (Have you ever been in the mangroves after dark? Try it and see if you don't get eaten alive by mosquitos and no-see-ums) . There is NO mud for them just sand. So think of the agony. If you look at the pigs you can see they have reddened skin and most have blistering particularly on the snout area. The least the greedy locals can do is use some of the proceeds of the Pig Tours to buy the swine proper shelter from the sun and some proper mud and have them thoroughly checked by an independent vet at least once a month to vaccinate and check up on the herd. But no...the locals are just greedy.( Like it or not, there is no other way to put it)
The fact of the matter is the locals in Exumas do not care so long as they make money from the pigs. One local guide even admitted to me that they go out and kill some of the pigs after a while and end up roasting them so they don't over populate. So you may be taking pictures now, but those pigs will likely later be killed after all the tourist are gone and the cameras are put away. They only need a certain amount on the island for tourism. It’s all a big PR stunt by the Bahamas to make it seem like those pigs are living in paradise.
The "Beloved Swimming Pigs" of the Bahamas is deceptive and the people who operate the tours are just money hungry and foolish people. Hopefully if you read my long comment you will think twice about feeding into this act of greed and exploitation of these pigs.