SHANGHAI: A pig which turned into an unlikely national star in China after residing 36 days beneath rubble from a strong 2008 earthquake has died at age 14, sparking an outpouring of emotion on Thursday.
“Zhu Jianqiang”, or”Strong Pig”, shot to fame after being found alive following the 7.9-magnitude earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province on May 12, 2008.
The earthquake left almost 90,000 people missing or dead along with the pig’s amazing story, subsisting on a bag of gas and saltwater, was hailed as an inspirational symbol of the will to endure.
Zhu said that the youthful”Zhu Jianqiang” had dropped a lot of weight at that time it had been pulled out of the rubble it seemed similar to a goat.
A neighborhood museum close to the city of Chengdu had bought the famed pig for 3,008 yuan ($450) and maintained it as a tourist attraction since it lived out its days.
It appeared to”old age and fatigue” on Wednesday nightthat the ministry stated on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform.
In individual terms, it had been 100 years old, The Global Times said, mentioning its aide.
The actress porker was called China’s creature of this year in 2008 since it”vividly illustrated the spirit of not giving up”.
Even the Weibo hashtag”Strong Weibo expired” had attracted nearly 300 million viewpoints by mid-afternoon Thursday and was growing quickly.
Weibo users hailed this as”the most well-known pig ever”.
“It truly is a powerful creature, not only for living the earthquake, but but also for its 13 decades of life after,” explained one favorite Weibo post.