The Large Black combined local black pig breeds from the West Country and the East of England. With the founding of a breed association in 1898 or 1899, variations between the types from the two areas decreased. The Large Black was popular in the early 1900s and was exported to many areas of the world. Population numbers declined after the Second World War as farmers turned to breeds more suitable to intensive pig farming, and by the 1960s the breed was almost extinct. Numbers have slowly risen, but it is still considered vulnerable by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and Rare Breeds Canada.