The pig formerly known as Putin gets new name at German wildlife park
An animal park in Bavaria that had named one of its wild boars Putin due to its Russian genetic heritage held a ceremony on Tuesday (April 19) to rechristen the hairy hog with a traditional southern German name in the light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Eckard Mickish, operator of the park just outside the town of Mehlmeisel said he named the boar after Russian President Vladimir Putin three years ago upon its arrival given it had been bred from pure-race boar from Russia.
At nearly 200 kg, the hog weighed around three times as much as those typically found in Germany, he said.
But lately, whenever Mickish had to do a roll call of the boar for visitors, a shiver went down his spine when mentioning Putin, given the war unfolding.
He also worried about how Ukrainian visitors would feel if they had to keep hearing the name of the Russian president.
Mickish decided that no pig deserved this name and turned to the park's social media channels to look for a new name.
Of 2700 name proposals, Eberhofer - the name of a policeman from a popular Bavarian book series - won the largest backing and so the boar was rechristened on Tuesday in a ceremony that included large marzipan and biscuit swine cake.
Eberhofer himself stayed out of the limelight behind the trees for most of the ceremony, leaving most of the cake to his fellow swine.