Monday, 16 March 2026

Meet Merlin: The 4-Year-Old Pig with 1.1 Million Instagram Followers Who Just Got a Guinness World Record

Weirdness Level7/10

🌀 Very Strange

Meet Merlin: The 4-Year-Old Pig with 1.1 Million Instagram Followers Who Just Got a Guinness World Record

“Merlin the pig has 1.1 million Instagram followers and now holds an official Guinness World Record to prove it. The four-year-old California resident communicates with his owner via 30+ programmed buttons around the house — and apparently, the internet finds this irresistible.”

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Why It's Weird

These are the stories that make you question whether reality has become deliberately surreal. While the weirdness score is more modest, the story still offers a fascinating glimpse into life's unexpected moments.

March 12 (UPI) -- A 4-year-old porcine social media star living in California earned the Guinness World Records title for the most followers on Instagram for a pig: 1.1 million.

The record-keeping organization said Merlin the Pig had 1.1 million followers on Instagram as of Feb. 23, earning him the title.

Owner Mina Alali adopted the now-4-year-old pig in March 2022, and started training him when he was just 3 months old.

Videos shared on Merlin's Instagram page show him using buttons placed around the house to play voice recordings that specify his current needs and desires.

"Now, at 4 years old, Merlin has over 30 buttons in the house that he uses regularly, sparking conversation online about just how intelligent, emotional and human-like pigs can be when given the time, patience and positive reinforcement," Guinness World Records said.

How does this make you feel?

Read original on UPI
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