CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND ZOOMETRY OF THE CRIOLLO PIG (Sus scrofa domesticus) OF THE SANTA ELENA PENINSULA

The Spaniards attribute the qualification Creole for calling so to the children born of indigenous women and later to the generation of settlers. Therefore, the pigs brought from the Portuguese and Spanish adopted that name; approximately these pigs existed in 40 million BC, starting the domestication approximately in 7,000 and 3,000 BC, the domestication was gradual and were raised in small herds, and the size of the pigs were not large (Sánchez, 2016). The classification genus "Sus" varies according to the species, such as "vittatus, scrofa, mediterraneus". It will depend on the territorial location and climatic adaptation where it is located, allowing exploitation, unlike countries that prohibit the sale of pigs due to the cultures or religions implemented (Martínez-López, 2021). In Latin America, there are large productions of Creole pig breeding, by the accentuation of the Spanish conquest in the year 1493 and later other countries that came to the continent. In Ecuador, there have been different works to analyze the presence of Creole pigs by Alvarado, Gomez and Molina in the years 1982 to 1995, identifying that 50% of the herds are composed of females representing 25% of national production in meat and 30% in the fat of Iberian breeds (Bolagay, 2019). Iberian breeds combined with modern breeds are distributed throughout the country and have produced several tons of meat, generating economic income for the country, especially for small producers who market their products for their subsistence (Barba-Capote, 1998). The Creole pigs are found in the backyard of homes or farms near the houses. Therefore, they are of great importance in the contribution of food sovereignty and family economic income. Assuming a high zoogenetic resource, these Creole species are adapted to the climate of rural areas and the different factors that the locality presents as an example: food shortages, dry land, arid forests and little water, resulting in good food conversion, showing favorable results to the problems present in the area (Cabrera, 2019). Genetic improvement in pigs advances, and Creole pigs show better adaptability over the years in the different regions of Ecuador, so it is necessary to collect information on morphometric characteristics to know and obtain a highly sustainable production for families (Cabezas, 2019). Therefore, the analysis of the animal characteristics of Creole pigs and the study of traditional production methods, in addition to the contribution to the information bank of the province's agricultural animal genetic resources, will make it possible to improve the productive capacity of Creole pigs and the country's agricultural and livestock resources.