Te Anau residents will fondly remember Penelope the pig walking along the shore of Lake Te Anau near the yacht club with her owner, a well-known local personality, Ray Willett. 

The famous kunekune pig died at the end of last month (Sep 2023), leaving her owners, Ray and Helen Willett, mourning.

The Willets have had pigs as pets for over 40 years, replacing them as they died.

Penelope the pet pig at home. Photo: Supplied

Penelope was the fourth pig they adopted.

“Pigs are beautiful and very intelligent animals. I’d been taking Penelope for a walk on the lakeshore every day since she was a little piglet,” Ray Willet said. 

Believed to be the smallest domestic breed of pigs in the world, an adult kunekune can still weigh between 60 and 200 kg, with females at the lower end of the range.

The Willets got Penelope from a local breeder when she was just a few weeks old and weighed about 6kgs.

Ray would pick her up and put her in the back of his station wagon for a trip to the lake.

Soon she became too heavy to be lifted, and he built a ramp for her to climb into the car. 

Tourists were very bemused to see a pig in a vehicle parked in the street of Te Anau or walking on the waterfront.

In the last couple years of her life, she outgrew the ramp and was confined to walks in the paddock surrounding her cosy little house.

Her diet was mostly grass, but she loved apples.

Penelope as a youngster, greets the author (right) and a friend on the shores of Lake Te Anau. Photo: Alina Suchanski

In season, friends would drop off buckets full of these treats for Penelope at the Willets’ gate. 

Penelope gained fame in 2019, when she appeared on the popular Good Morning World social media campaign, run by Tourism New Zealand.

She became an instant celebrity when a Facebook video of her and Willet clocked up over 300,000 views.

Her story was also covered in numerous on-line publications.

According to The New Zealand Kunekune Association the kunekune is a unique New Zealand breed of pig, but, its origin is uncertain.

The general consensus is that these pigs were probably brought to New Zealand in the 1800’s by whalers operating in New Zealand waters and were traded with the Māori.

In the early days they were only found associated with Maori settlements. Kunekune is a Māori word meaning fat and round.

In the late 1970’s the breed was ‘rediscovered’ and at that time it was estimated that there were only about 50 purebred kunekune left in New Zealand.

From purebred base stock of only 6 sows and 3 boars in 1978, the kunekune now numbers in the thousands, as it’s found its niche as a pet pig. 

Opinions vary regarding the lifespan of kunekune pigs.

Some sources claim it can be between 15-20 years, while others give a more modest range of 8-10 years.

Penelope was only seven when she died and weighed an impressive 180 kgs.

“She died a very happy pig, asleep in her paddock. She had a very good life and when she was younger she enjoyed meeting hundreds of visitors on her walks on the lakeshore,” Willet said.