Research shows that 85 percent of domestic pig breeds are facing a decline in numbers and 31 breeds are endangered, Oriental Outlook Weekly reported on Monday.

The report said that a majority of the pork that we consume today comes from so-called lean pigs, which are foreign breeds. From an economic point of view, pig farmers prefer the foreign breed as they grow faster than domestic ones.

Local breeds, which contain more fat, are less in demand.

Last year, investment spent on protecting domestic breeds was 5.32 billion yuan ($868.75 million).

Scientific research on studying pig breeding started in 2007 by the Ministry of Agriculture.