What's Up With The 'Lost Pet Boar' Flyers By Prospect Park?

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — A 350-pound, banana-loving pet boar named "Sunshine" ran off near Prospect Park and her owner wants to save her bacon.

Or at least that's what scores of "Lost Pet Boar!" flyers found papered over the streets near the park this weekend claimed.

The flyers asked people to help sniff out the whereabouts of Sunshine, a "beautiful Berkshire boar with a velvety coat of black fur." The pig is 44 inches, about 350 pounds and was last seen near the park's Ninth Street entrance in Park Slope, the flyers claimed.

"If you see Sunshine, she responds to calls of her name and loves to eat peanuts and bananas," the flyers state.

The flyers end with a big, all-caps promise: "HUGE REWARD GIVEN!!!"

Brooklynites and New Yorkers understandably were skeptical, puzzled and amused by the flyers.

And one local, who's also a Patch reporter, launched an investigation Monday to ascertain a simple question: are these flyers for real or not?

Here's what he found, or didn't.

Patch's calls to the pig's reputed owner — given as "Elijah" in a voicemail — were left unreturned as of Monday afternoon, as was an email to an address listed on the flyer.

Likewise, official confirmation of a peanut-eating boar hoofing about Brooklyn wasn't forthcoming.

NYPD officials sadly didn't respond to Patch's request for comment. City Hall officials referred Patch to the mayor's office for animal welfare, which said they're not aware of any missing boar.

A spokesperson for the Prospect Park Alliance told Patch the group hasn't heard anything about a boar.

And a spokesperson for Council Member Shahana Hanif, who represents the district covering the park, said they hadn't heard anything either.

Patch then delved into 600 animal-related 311 complaints made since May 1 in Brooklyn, but couldn't find any that matched the description of a lost pet pig or a sighting of a 300-pound escaped boar, presumably on the hunt for bananas.

In other words, the only sign Patch could find there's a lost pet boar in Brooklyn is the flyers that claim one ran away.

But one thing is for certain: Sunshine, whether real or not, has run away with New Yorkers' hearts.

"I’m doubting this story but then again they did pull a gator out of the lake in prospect park…" one person tweeted.

Another wrote the flyer begged for "so many corny remarks."

"Like, Brooklyn sure isn’t boaring," they tweeted. "Or, did the band Len 'Steal My Sunshine'? Or, NY won’t be outdone by 30-50 feral hogs, when we have a peanut-&-banana-craving hipster boar loose in the park."

Do you have any information about a pet boar running free in Brooklyn? Please email matt.troutman@patch.com.