MEHLMEISEL (Germany): An animal park in the German state of Bavaria that had named one its wild boars Putin due to its Russian genetic heritage held a ceremony yesterday to rechristen the hairy hog.

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 as it was a purebred from Russia.

At nearly 200kg, 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 for visitors, a shiver would go down his spine given the war unfolding just west. He also worried how Ukrainian visitors would feel.

He soon came to the conclusion that no pig deserved the name, so the park announced on social media a search for a new moniker. About 2,700 suggestions poured in, and Eberhofer – the name of a policeman from a popular Bavarian book series – won the vote.

The boar was renamed yesterday in a ceremony that included a marzipan-and-biscuit cake decorated with five pink smiling pigs.