Twenty years after the massacre, the legend of the giant wild pig known as “Hogzilla” lives on.
The monster pig was originally thought to be a monstrous 12 feet long and weighed a staggering 70 stone.
This incredible pig was also said to have had enormous 18-inch tusks.
Hogzilla was a cross between a wild boar and a domestic pig that was tracked down by an American hunter in June 2004.
Chris Griffin shot and killed a hogzilla at a hunting preserve in Alapaha, Georgia, in the United States, but the hog’s incredible size drew worldwide attention.
The following year, National Geographic documentary Explorers revealed that scientists exhumed the giant pig’s remains and discovered that it actually weighed 57 stone and was 8.6 feet long.
Nevertheless, he was identified as an abnormally large creature.
“He was an impressive animal, a true miracle of nature,” said Nancy Donnelly, the documentary’s producer.
His tusks, one measuring 18 inches and the other almost 16 inches, meant that a Safari Club International North American hunting record had been set.
But game reserve owner Ken Holyoak stood by the giant pig’s original measurements and argued its body must have shrunk after death.
He said: “It must be emphasised that given that this poor animal had been in the ground for nearly six months, there wasn’t a lot of material for them to work with.”
“As with any organism after death, tissues decompose and the body shrinks, so the actual measurements will change over time.
“Have you ever seen a raisin that was once a grape?”
But documentary producer Nancy said the team is already taking downsizing into account.
Either way, Alapaha locals embraced the Hogzilla and made him the theme of their annual festival.
Legend has it that the town was marked on maps as being 180 miles south of Atlanta.
The New York Times reported that people had called to order pig T-shirts from as far away as California and New Jersey.
But Hogzilla hasn’t brought happiness everywhere. Sadly, Ken and Chris the hunter are said to have had a dispute over who should get the proceeds from the pig’s photos.
But when the documentary revealed that the giant pig actually exists, Chris beamed.
“They will be deeply humiliated… I will chuckle,” he said of those who doubted his story, according to the New York Times.
Recalling the time he killed the pig, Chris added: “When I shot the pig it turned around and walked away and I wondered how I missed something so big.”
Chris said he chased the huge beast into a swamp, where it collapsed and died.
The legend of Hogzilla has lived on ever since.
Other megafauna
The most famous mega-animal legend is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch.
Bigfoot is a giant, hairy, human-like mythical creature that some claim lurks in the forests of North America.
Bigfoot has become an iconic figure, with many sightings reported over the years, but they are generally accepted to be hoaxes.
However, in 2018, researcher Claudia Ackley filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, alleging that the agency had failed to acknowledge the existence of Bigfoot.
A more well-documented example is the Megalodon, a giant great white shark that once patrolled the oceans.
Its jaws were so large that it was thought it could even eat a rhinoceros.
Fortunately, it became extinct a million years ago.
Currently, blue whales are the largest living creatures on Earth, historically growing to lengths of up to 100 feet, but are now said to be shrinking in size due to whaling.