Germans go wild for "Pig Brother" Web site

GERMANY: April 14, 2004


BERLIN - A German Web site dubbed "Pig Brother" has attracted more than a million visitors in under two weeks with its 24-hour live Webcam coverage of a family of wild boar, the site's creators say.

 


The site, launched in March by the German Hunting Protection League, offers day and night coverage of three males, three females and more than 50 offspring in an enclosure in their natural habitat of the Eifel mountains in western Germany.

"The boar live freely in a natural environment but it so happens that there is nearly always a boar in front of the camera," a spokeswoman for the league said.

The site was set up shortly after the start of the latest German series of the reality television show "Big Brother", which locks volunteers in a house and films their every move.

The boar site - www.wildtiere-live.de - attracted more than 1.5 million visitors and 400 guest book entries in its first two weeks. "We have microphones in the enclosure. The mating calls are very impressive," said the spokeswoman.

 


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE