BEIJING - Chinese officials figure a 1,980-pound pig that died from lack of exercise has a shot at being named the biggest pig ever. And they plan to apply for a listing in the Guinness Book of Records, the government's news agency said Monday.


AFP/File Photo



The pig, which was 8 feet 3 inches long, is already the heaviest ever reported in China, the official Xinhua News Agency said.


The beast had a girth of 7 feet, 3 inches and its tusks were 5 3/4 inches long when it died Feb. 5, the agency said. It cited the pig's keeper, Xu Changjin, a farmer in the northeastern province of Liaoning.


The pig lived to be 5 years old — considered long in China, where most pigs are slaughtered by age 3 — and was kept in a "nicely built sty," the report said.


But, "it had grown too big to move around," said Liu Mingyu, a professor at Liaoning University, who said it died from lack of exercise.


China's previous heaviest pig weighed in at 1,540 pounds, Liu said, in Xinhua's report.

Did you post a pic with your article? If so, nada.