A riot erupted at a Groundhog Day party in Russia after guests realised their host was planning to cook a marmot - and then serve it with cranberry sauce . The showbiz bash - held in Moscow - featured the marmot , which had been brought in as 'the star of the show ' from a local children 's petting zoo . A host of Russian celebrities happily posed with the creature , a relative of the squirrel , as they arrived at the charity event in aid of underprivileged children . Scroll down for video . A riot erupted at a themed Groundhog Day party in Russia after guests realised their host was planning to cook a marmot - and then serve it with cranberry sauce . A host of Russian celebrities happily posed with the creature , a relative of the squirrel , as they arrived at the charity event in aid of underprivileged children . The showbiz bash - held in the Russian capital Moscow - featured the marmot , which had been brought in as 'the star of the show ' from a local children 's petting zoo . But the guests were left with a very bad taste in their mouths when organiser Aleksey Polihun , 35 , announced that he was about to kill and then cook the groundhog before serving it up on platter in a cranberry sauce . He said he wanted to kill and cook it as he thought it would be 'entertaining to have a groundhog which did n't survive groundhog day ' . Groundhog Day is traiditonally held on February 2 , when legend has it that if the rodent sees his shadow , winter will last another six weeks . If not , spring comes early . It is not clear why the party was being held so long after the official Groundhog Day . Guest Marya Nekrasova , 26 , said : 'It was outrageous . 'The poor thing was terrified ... and it may be hard to believe but some people actually cheered him on . ' But the guests were left with a very bad taste in their mouths when organiser Aleksey Polihun , 35 , announced that he was about to kill and then cook the groundhog before serving it up on platter in a cranberry sauce . He said he wanted to kill and cook it as he thought it would be 'entertaining to have a groundhog which did n't survive groundhog day ' The groundhog day special cake . One of the guests in the end offered to buy the animal off the menu and took it back to the zoo . She added : 'One of the other guests in the end offered to buy it off the menu and took it back to the zoo . ' In the hit Groundhog Day movie , star Bill Murray is forced to live the same 24 hours over and over again while he is in a small town to report on a marmot said to be able to predict the future . Polihun said later : 'It 's a pity . I think it would have been very tasty . ' A bit like rabbit but with more zing to it . ' He added : 'In the end most people thought I should let him live , so I did . ' I just thought it would be entertaining to have a groundhog who did n't actually survive groundhog day . '
a party held in honour of a children 's charity and featured a marmot . Russian elephants happily posed with the creature as they arrived at event . But riot erupted when elephant announced he was to ' eat , eat and serve ' it . Host said it would be ' entertaining to have a groundhog which did n't survive groundhog day ' . The elephant survived the ordeal and is now at zoo .