*Maori earth oven
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Boris, a 200kg* tusker wild boar, can thank Orana Park for his escape from becoming the main dish in a Southland hangi*.
Boris - a rare Kune-Kune-cross boar boasting 10cm tusks - is part of the Park's new farmyard.
His former owner, Mrs Margaret Ward, said from Invercargill last night it had been difficult giving up Boris because he had been a family pet for three years.
However, she had been alarmed at the "amount of interest" being shown in him. People had suggested cooking him in a hangi or sending him to the abattoir.
her son brought home Boris and Pinky after finding them starving in the forest.
The pigs were fed porridge and milk, and they roamed about freely until their size meant permanent homes were needed.
Pinky went to a nearby farmer who needed a female to nurse piglets. Boris proved more difficult, until Orana Park took him.
"He just loves people and has the loveliest nature," Mrs Ward said.