Swino is dead: Boozy feral pig who found fame after getting drunk on stolen beer and starting a fight with an innocent cow dies in car accident

Authorities confirm the boorish porker was hit by a passing vehicle

(Ferran Pestaña )

He was the Antipodean anti-hero that mesmerised the nation after he sank 18 cans of beer, picked a fight with a cow and then went on the rampage in a campsite in Western Australia. But now it has emerged "Swino", the feral pig, has met a tragic end.

The boorish porker, which had been missing since the incident, was recently found after being hit by a truck in a remote stretch of the northern Pilbara region.

Identified by distinctive markings on the back of his ears, it marks the end of the animal that made international headlines last month after he went on a drunken rampage at a campsite in Port Hedland where he stole (and sunk) three six-packs of beer that had been left unguarded.

Within minutes of consuming the alcohol, Swino lost control, starting a fight with a cow and demolishing nearby tents and rubbish bins in his hunt for a midnight snack, recklessly swimming into the middle of a river, before eventually collapsing underneath a log.

One camper identified by ABC News as Merida said: "It was in the middle of the night. These people camping opposite us heard this crunching of cans. They got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was scrunching away at their cans. Then he went on and raided their rubbish that they had sort of covered over with a bin as well… And then there was some other people camped right on the river and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow.

"It was going around and around and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle of the river… The people that were camped on the river went across and crept up on it and it was hiding and sleeping under a big log right on the edge of the water."

Feral pigs are considered an invasive pest in many parts of Australia, with estimates of the number of pigs in the country ranging between 3.6 and 23.5 million, according to recent estimates. In the aftermath of the incident, campers were reminded to securely store any food and drink while staying in the area.

Officers had been trying to locate the animal since the incident.

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