It turns out that the “giant wild boar” is not exactly Hogzilla II. It’s merely “Fred.”

Wire service reports are flashing the news around the world, summarizing the reported truth behind Hogzilla II.

It was not a wild boar, and not even a hybrid. It was a farm-raised pig, named Fred, purchased for a canned hunt. That hunt ended on Lost Creek Plantation just four days after it was released into a 60 hectare fenced area, the animal’s former owner said.

Phil Blissitt told The Anniston Star that he bought the six-week-old pig in 2004 as a Christmas gift for his wife, Rhonda, and that they sold it after deciding to get rid of all their pigs. Blissitt said the pig had become a nuisance and that visitors were often frightened by it.

“I just wanted the truth to be told. That wasn’t a wild pig,” Rhonda Blissitt said.

“That was a big hog,” said her husband, Phil Blissitt.

The 11-year-old Jamison Stone shot the huge hog during what he and his father, Mike Stone, described as a three-hour chase.

We were told that it was a feral hog, and we hunted it on the pretense that it was a feral hog. [Phil Blissitt] was nice enough to tell my son that the pig was too big and needed killing. He shook Jamison’s hand and said he did not kill the family pet. Mike Stone told The Anniston Star, June 1, 2007.

The Blissitts said they did not know the hog was Fred until they were contacted by a game warden for the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. The agency determined that no laws were violated in the hunt. Phil Blissitt said he became irritated when he learned that some thought the photo of Fred was doctored.Summarized by the Associated Press, June 2, 2007.

Articles are appearing throughout the world about this news, from Australia (thanks Chris) to hundreds of papers in America.