Aroma Pets

Herd of 80 camels rampages through Russian villages

Eighty camels “invaded” three Russian villages after being allowed to roam free by their elderly owner, according to local residents.

The two-humped animals are accused of breaking down fences, trampling through gardens, damaging water and gas pipelines and stripping fruit from the trees.

Villagers even claimed they were too scared to leave their homes in the Astrakhan region because of the rampaging herd.

“If you look one directly in the eyes… the animal chases you, and you have to run away,” resident Yelena Bakhtemyeva told Interfax news agency. “When a herd walks, it sweeps away everything in its path.”

Former owner, 83-year-old Yuri Serebryakov, released the animals because he was getting too old to look after them, officials said.

He has refused to take responsibility for the camels’ behaviour and is instead trying to sell them for nearly £700 pounds each.

“I won’t give them away,” he told state-owned national TV station Rossiya 1 after it was suggested he should hand them over to a zoo. “It’s too late for that.”

The divisional prosecutor’s office are now investigating a complaint about “illegal grazing of camels” from the villages of Oranzherei, Fyodorovka, and Ninovka.

“It has been preliminary established that the camel breeder abandoned animal husbandry,” a spokesman told TASS news agency.

“The rest of the circumstances will be clarified during the prosecutor’s check and compliance with the legislation governing the procedure for keeping and grazing farm animals.”

Natalya Butuzova, the head of the Ikryaninsky district, said officials were still trying to work out how to tackle what she called an “invasion of camels”.

“It is a whole business to transport them,” she said. “It is impossible to shoot them, especially as this is someone else’s property.”

Reference: Independent: Peter Stubley 3 hrs ago: 1st August 2020

This absolute legend kitten had to be rescued from three vehicles in one day

A kitten had to be rescued from three vehicles in one day after it kept climbing into engines in Norfolk.
Rescuers had to partially dismantle each of the vehicles, with the whole operation lasting several hours in the town of King's Lynn.

The RSPCA was called to a car park when a member of the public heard a cat crying from a Volkswagen Golf.

With the permission of the car's owner, firefighters lifted it up to try and free the cat.

 It was then taken to a garage where some of the wheels and bodywork were taken off to reach the cat underneath the engine.

But before it could be captured, the cat escaped and ran under a BMW and did the same.

The BMW's owner was traced and the car was partially taken apart, but the cat then dashed under the RSPCA van.

The van required less dismantling since it was higher from the ground and a firefighter managed to catch the cat in his arms before she could escape again.

RSPCA animal collection officer Natalie Read, who has since adopted the cat, said: "This kitten was proving a little Houdini - but there's no way we could leave her in any of the vehicles or alone in the middle of a busy town centre, so we just had to try again!"

Her colleague Naemi Kilby said: "The kitten was so terrified by what had happened - we had to get her - because she could have been seriously hurt or killed if she had been inside a car engine for too long while moving."

The kitten is believed to be between six and 12 weeks old and has been named Lohse.

The RSCPA said it is likely the cat travelled to the car park in another vehicle from a farm 10 miles away.

Reference: Sky News: Lucia Binding, news reporter 3 hrs ago: 31st July 2020

Couple mauled by lion in their tent on safari holiday sue UK tour operator

A couple are suing their tour operator are they were mauled by a lion in their tent on a safari holiday.

Patrick, 64, and Brigitte Fourgeaud, 63, were on a trip in Tanzania, Africa when they woke up to find the huge animal in their tent.

The loin then mauled Patrick, ripping off part of his upper left arm before it was scared away.

Patrick has had to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery on his arm and the pair have both been left psychologically traumatised by the incident, which happened in August 2015.

The couple, who are French, are now pursuing legal action against Sussex-based Africa Travel Resource Ltd, who organised the package holiday.

While tales of holidaymakers being mauled on safari are not common, there have been incidents in the past, including a suspected poacher who was reportedly eaten by the pride of lions he was trying to hunt in Tanzania in 2018.

Brigitte said: “Several years on, it remains incredibly difficult to think about what happened that night and it still distresses us so much.

“I will never forget that moment when I woke up to see the lion there. I thought we were both going to die. The attack will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“Nothing will change what we have been through, but we both believe that more could have been done to prevent what happened and we both want to ensure that this doesn’t happen to other holidaymakers again.”

The pair claim that a range of health and safety failings led to the attack, including a lack of precautions to make sure animals couldn’t get to where they were sleeping.

Leane Shanks, an international serious injury expert from Irwin Mitchell, said: “Four years on from this horrific attack, Patrick and Brigitte are still trying to come to terms with the ordeal they faced that night.

“Having always been passionate about seeing animals in the wild, and having been on several safaris in Africa in the past, they had booked this holiday to an area of Africa that they particularly loved.

“Tour operators and holiday firms have a duty of care to ensure the safety of customers, and in this case we believe this did not happen.

“Patrick and Brigitte believe that no-one was keeping a constant watch throughout the night over the camp while they were sleeping in their tents.

"In addition, they were given no adequate advice by their guide on the particular risks that night of camping in that location.

"This is astonishing when the tents were set up at a location which we understand was known to be frequented by lions and other wild animals at night.”

Reference: Yahoo News: Ellen Manning 10 hrs ago: 31st July 2020

‘Beautiful’ great green macaw chicks hatch for first time at Chester Zoo

Two “beautiful” great green macaw chicks have been bred and reared at Chester Zoo for the first time.

The pair, which hatched in April, have spent three months hidden inside their nest with parents Royan and Dresden.

Zoe Sweetman, assistant team manager of parrots and penguins at the zoo, said: “It’s been a wonderful experience to watch the youngsters develop from tiny, naked and helpless chicks when they first hatched to the huge, beautiful birds we see now.

“It’s an incredible achievement for the whole zoo team to have bred these iconic birds for the first time.”

Scientists estimate that the endangered birds, native to forests of central and south America, now have a global population of fewer than 2,500.

Andrew Owen, curator of birds at the zoo, said: “Global populations of the great green macaw have been decimated by more than 50% in just the last three generations.

“To have successfully reared these magnificent birds, just a few months after the parents arrived here in Chester, is therefore really wonderful news.”

Reference: P A Media: By Emily Chudy, PA 18 hrs ago: 30th July 2020