Pig Under Arrest

Poor pig:

AFGHANISTAN'S only known pig has been taken off display at Kabul Zoo and locked away to avoid panic among visitors who may be worried about swine flu.

"We put the pig temporarily in his winter house under quarantine because of swine influenza," the zoo's director Aziz Gul Saqib said.

"Most people don't have much knowledge about swine influenza and seeing a pig, they panic that they will be infected.

...The interned animal - known simply as Pig - was one of two given to Afghanistan by China in 2002, months after the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime, to help re-establish the zoo after it was destroyed during civil war.

However, the other pig - and their offspring - were killed in an attack by a bear.

Despite being the only pig, it was not too lonely, Mr Saqib said.

"The pig made friends with a goat and was happy sticking to the goat in the enclosure, where some other goats and deer were on show for visitors," Mr Saqib said.

The zoo is undergoing reconstruction but is basic, with a small variety of animals, most in poor conditions.

...It is illegal for Afghans to eat pork in the strictly Islamic country and there are no pig farms or any of the animals in the wild.