South Carolina zoo mourns death of beloved pig who gave friendly snorts to visitors
Ozzie, a beloved pot-bellied pig who delighted visitors at a South Carolina zoo, has died.
For years, he used his snout to share friendly greetings with people who visited the Greenville Zoo’s barnyard, officials announced Tuesday on Facebook.
“While we had to limit guests feeding him, to maintain his trim figure, he was still very tractable and loved interacting with young and old alike with a grunt or a snort as they stopped to visit him,” the post said.
Ozzie, one of the zoo’s “longtime residents,” first came to the facility in 2000, officials say.
A photo on the zoo’s website shows the popular swine had a dangling midsection and a coat of thin, wiry hair. Pot-bellied pigs can weigh up to 150 pounds and grow to 18 inches tall, according to SeaWorld.
Though zoo officials didn’t reveal how Ozzie died, they say pigs in his species normally get as old as 18.
Ozzie lived to age 19, and zoo visitors shared heartfelt comments about his nearly two-decade impact.
“I’m so sorry,” one Facebook user wrote on the Greenville Zoo’s post. “Have been coming to the zoo since 2009. We will all miss him. Thank you for taking such good care of him and giving him such a long life.”
Another user wrote: “We were there on Friday and wondered where he was...definitely missed that snotty snout welcoming us to the farm.”
The zoo says its staff members mourn the deaths of all creatures in their care.
“One of the most difficult parts of working with animals is watching them pass,” according to the Facebook post.
Officials say they haven’t decided what to do with Ozzie’s enclosure. The pig’s name is also spelled “Ozzy” on the zoo’s website.
