Pet male camel kills his mistress

A pet male camel given as a gift that may have been looking for a mate killed an Australian woman, police said Sunday.

The camel, given to the woman on her 60th birthday, was killed Saturday at her family sheep and cattle ranch near Mitchell, about 350 miles west of the Queensland state capital of Brisbane, state police Detective Senior Constable Craig Gregory said.

The 330-pound, 10-month-old male had knocked the woman (police have not released her name) to the ground then lay on top of her in what police suspect was mating behavior, Gregory said.

Hill, who has offered camel rides to tourists for 20 years, said young camels are not aggressive but can be dangerous if treated as pets without discipline, reports Xinhua.

"I'd say it's probably been playing, or it may be even a sexual sort of thing," Gregory said, adding the camel almost suffocated the family's pet goat by straddling it on several occasions.

Camel expert Chris Hill said he had no doubt the camel's behavior was sexual.

Hill, who has offered camel rides to tourists for 20 years, said young camels are not aggressive, but can be dangerous if treated as pets without discipline.

The fate of the camel was not known.

The woman was given the camel in March as a birthday present from her husband and daughter. "She had a love of exotic pets," Gregory said, reports International Herald Tribune.

Source: Agencies