March 24 (UPI) — A zoological park in Florida boasts a “bilingual” pig that can understand commands in both English and Spanish.
Jungle Island trainer Marisela Gutierrez said the Miami park’s resident Vietnamese pot bellied pig Ace, who she prefers to call “Gordita,” can understand more than 400 words in both English and Spanish.
“Everything I tell her she does,” Gutierrez said. “She knows 250 words in English and 250 words in Spanish.”
Gutierrez told the Miami Herald she believes Gordita is bilingual because the pig understands her Spanish commands as well as the commands of the other English speaking trainers.
“She’s bilingual because all of the other trainers speak to her in English and I only speak to her in Spanish,” she said.
She added that although Gordita’s heritage is Vietnamese, she considers the 4-year-old pig to be Cuban-American.
“Gordita is a Cuban-American pig because she was born in Hialeah, but her ethnicity is Vietnamese. She was raised as a puppy and does not have the tail curled like most pigs,” she said.
