Weird

Claims of Muscular, “Mutant” Pigs In Cambodia

Something strange is going down in Cambodia, where reports have surfaced of genetically altered “mutant” pigs with abnormally large muscles.

Images of the pigs were posted on Facebook, originating from a farm in Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia. This prompted PETA to respond. “Hulk-like pigs are the stuff of nightmares, not meals,” they wrote in a statement on their website, “and those who are genetically engineered are also likely to be born with painful health issues.”

The images, which are available elsewhere (and potentially disturbing), show the deformed pigs – and hulking is the appropriate adjective here. Their muscles jut out of their bodies, so much so that they have difficulty even walking.

According to Tech Times, the genetic alteration of animals like this has proven ineffective in the past. An experiment in 2015 by South Korean and Chinese scientists involved creating more muscular pigs through TALEN-based gene editing. However, the “cloned pigs” didn’t live very long, and most were unhealthy.

Well, if we’re dead set on going all Jurassic Park on our breakfast, perhaps the pigs will one day have their revenge. I always thought it would be the robot apocalypse, or a technological singularity, or even nuclear winter. But at this rate, and I’m just spitballing here, we may be more likely to encounter a Barnyard Commandos scenario.

I’m talking pigs and (I guess) rams with rockets strapped to their backs, settling their beefs once and for all.

Rob Schwarz

Writer, blogger, and part-time peddler of mysterious tales. Editor-in-chief of Stranger Dimensions.