Khanzir in the Kabul Zoo on Saturday. (Reuters)

Kabul, July 4 (Reuters): Afghanistan’s only known pig, called Khanzir, trotted out of quarantine today, two months after he was locked away because of swine flu fears, to bask again in the mud at the Kabul Zoo.

The pig, a curiosity in Afghanistan where pork and pig products are illegal, was quarantined because visitors to the zoo were worried it could spread the new H1N1 flu strain, commonly known as swine flu. “Our people did not understand that the disease only passes from person to person and felt that the swine influenza might even be spread from the zoo because we have a pig here,” zoo manager Aziz Gul Saqib said. “Other zoos abroad told us not to worry.” Khanzir — Pashto for pig — appeared unperturbed as a team of zoo workers used sticks to gently prod him out of his temporary concrete home into his usual enclosure of lush green shrubs and a mud puddle.