For details, see facebook.com/GuineaPigAppreciationDay.
In the meantime, here are some guinea pig facts.
1. Guinea pigs are not pigs and do not come from Guinea. It is unclear how they got their name. They are a South American animal, while Guinea is in West Africa.
2. Guinea hogs however are no relation but are a breed of pig that did originate in Africa.
3. The earliest recorded use of the term guinea pig was in 1664.
4. George Bernard Shaw in 1913 was the first to use guinea pig for the subject of an experiment.
5. Guinea pigs have four toes on their front feet and three on their hind feet.
6. A female guinea pig is called a sow, the male is a boar; babies are pups.
7. The guinea pig was domesticated in South America around 5000 BC as a source of food.
8. It was also widely used in traditional medicine, particularly in the treatment of arthritis and jaundice which were supposedly cured by rubbing a guinea pig on the affected areas.
9. Fried or roast guinea pig is a delicacy in Peru.
10. The population of pet guinea pigs in the UK was estimated at around half a million in 2016/17, a decrease of 200,000 since 2015/16.
