{"id":371001,"date":"2026-03-06T13:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/371001\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:17:15","slug":"senior-man-from-south-korea-adopts-wild-boar-as-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/371001\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Man From South Korea Adopts Wild Boar as Pet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-806970\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-806970 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/boar-pet-korea-man-1.jpg\" alt=\"Senior man riding pet wild boar\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-806970\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Byrdyak\/<a href=\"https:\/\/depositphotos.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Depositphotos<\/a> (Not the actual wild boar from the story)<\/p>\n<p>A wild boar is not a creature you\u2019d expect to see around the city, much less as someone\u2019s pet. And yet, that\u2019s exactly what happened in South Korea. A few years ago, a 70-year-old man in Haeundae-gu, Busan, got a boar with the purpose of cooking it. However, after realizing the animal could understand him, the pair developed a unique bond. And so, what was bound to become a meal became a beloved and unexpected pet.<\/p>\n<p>The story of the senior and the wild boar was documented in 2005 by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fANsFnkaX-U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Korean Broadcasting System (KBS)<\/a>. The animal, named\u00a0 Kkulkkuli, turned heads when he was out and about in the city with his human. Although they mostly walked around side by side, the man often rode on the wild boar\u2019s back\u2014likely a welcome aid given his advanced age. Still, their urban adventures weren\u2019t completely smooth, as the boar was seen almost stealing a rice cake from a vendor and trying his best to cross an overpass.<\/p>\n<p>Otherwise, the routine shared by the man and his pet boar appeared very laid back. Kkulkkuli would wake him up every day by sliding his window open. Then, the animal would ask for his favorite meal (a big bowl of rice) before going on daily hikes around a nearby mountain, giving him a chance to play in the dirt and grass. Kkulkkuli\u2019s cheerful and loyal demeanor earned him comparisons to a pet dog, despite his size.<\/p>\n<p>At about 660 pounds and over six feet long, the man and his family had to adapt their home to make it safe for Kkulkkuli. While the wild boar slept in a pen, sometimes Kkulkkuli went inside for a meal and some rubs from his human. Among the steps taken to ensure everyone\u2019s safety was gluing some containers to the floor and rearranging furniture to keep it out of the boar\u2019s path.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, it was reported that the boar passed away after a drunken man fed it a plastic bag with fruit. Still, the story of the Kkulkkuli and his owner warmed hearts around their native South Korea and beyond, becoming a poignant tale of an unlikely friendship that still resounds today.\u00a0 \u201cYou are like my son, and I\u2019m taking you as my only son in my lifetime,\u201d the man tells the boar in KBS\u2019s story on the pair.<\/p>\n<p>You can watch the original news segment with English subtitles below.\n<\/p>\n<p>A 70-year-old man from South Korea got a boar for the purpose of cooking it. However, what was bound to become a meal became a beloved and unexpected pet.<\/p>\n<p>Related Articles:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/giraffes-standing-in-storm-viral-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Viral Video Shows What Giraffes Do During Storms\u2014and the Internet Is Upset About It<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/2025-international-pet-photography-awards\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Say \u201cMeow\u201d to the Adorable Winners of the 2025 International Pet Photography Awards<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/alison-friend-dog-only-knows\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Adorable Paintings of Pets With Naughty Habits and Wholesome Hobbies<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mymodernmet.com\/soccer-player-seagull-cpr-istanbul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Soccer Player Rushes to Aid and Perform CPR on Seagull Hit by Ball Mid-Game in Istanbul<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Byrdyak\/Depositphotos (Not the actual wild boar from the story) A wild boar is not a creature you\u2019d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[84310,18,19,17,171509,133,2428,461],"class_list":{"0":"post-371001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-boar","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-kkulkkuli","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-south-korea","15":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116182427071623580","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}