Donkey named after Michael Jackson

The baby donkey was poised to be named after tennis star Andy Murray but was instead named Jackson.

A DONKEY born in Aberdeen as Andy Murray scored his epic tennis victory has been named … after Michael Jackson.

Aberdeen council workers had been poised to name a newborn donkey after Andy Murray, the nation’s sporting idol.

The baby donkey was born in Aberdeen’s Hazlehead at the very moment tennis star Andy dropped to his knees after an epic Wimbledon win over Stanislas Wawrinka.

But the honour of the Aberdeen donkey’s new name instead went to Michael Jackson, the global superstar singer who died from a heart attack.

The donkey was born in her mum Lottie’s pen at Pets Corner in Aberdeen’s Hazlehead Park at 10.38pm – just as British No.1 Andy Murray beat his Swiss opponent to reach today’s quarter final.

Animal attendant at Aberdeen’s mini zoo Bev Caie said they had thought about calling him Andy Murray.

She said: “When Andy went down on his knees on Monday night we got the phone call to say he had been born.

“Andy won and he just popped out.”

Lottie’s struggle to give birth matched Andy Murray’s fight with Wawrinka for endurance.

She said: “In the evening we noticed she was awful unsettled. She was walking up and down and her tail was going. She went into labour and we just decided to leave her to it.”

However, Michael Jackson, who died last Thursday, beat him to be the donkey’s namesake at the last moment.

The move over the donkey’s name came after an hour of discussion between Bev and other members of staff in Aberdeen.

Bev said: “After a long discussion we decided to name him Jackson. It took a long time to decide because it’s just like naming a child.

“Michael Jackson was such a big superstar and it’s such a major issue at the moment that we thought it was the thing to do.”

Tennis fan Bev thinks Lottie and dad Mason, both nine-year-old Mediterranean miniature donkeys, will be ace parents to their new little champ, Jackson.

She added: “Lottie is such a good mum. She has been taking him into the stable quite a lot because there have been huge crowds of schoolchildren here.”

While Andy Murray may have missed out on getting his name on the Aberdeen donkey pen, he was today hoping to be named Wimbledon champion.