Wild boar named after Putin; renamed by Bavarian animal park in Germany amid war

A wild boar which has been named after President of Russia Vladimir Putin, has been renamed by a Bavarian animal park in Germany amid the ongoing war in the Eastern region of Europe.

On Tuesday, the Bavarian animal park has planned to change the boar’s name, performing a ceremony that included a baptism of sorts in a popular water stock cube mixture that the animal likes, as per reports. For a several weeks, the Mehlmeisel natural park in Bavaria had been considering a name change.

‘Eberhofer’ was picked as an apolitical name viewing the current situation in Eastern Europe. This name was reportedly chosen following an online vote that suggested famous Ukrainian names like Zelenskyy and Klitschko.

The animal park’s operator Eckard Mickisch said that he christened it after Putin when the boar came three(3) years ago. He stated that he picked this name as the hog was a purebred Russian hog weighing approximately 200 kilos, or three times the weight of a wild boar found in Germany, the report stated. After the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out on February 24, Mickisch claimed it became uncomfortable to call the boar Putin.

Mickisch said he was especially concerned about the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian visitors who had arrived in Germany fleeing the conflict. As per reports, the animal park had made an announcement about a contest for a new name on social media. 

Mehlmeisel animal park chose Eberhofer, the policeman’s name in Rita Falk’s popular Bavarian book series. This name was reportedly chosen after receiving 2,700 suggestions on social media. Mickisch also remarked that the park had extended an invitation to Franz Eberhofer to attend the baptism but did not receive a response.