From: "Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 7" Subject: Giant badgers terrorise Iraqi port city | The Daily Telegraph Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:35:21 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C7C424.E9228990" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.0.6000.16480 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C7C424.E9228990 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22056684-5001028,00.html Giant badgers = terrorise Iraqi port city | The Daily Telegraph
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    Giant badgers terrorise Iraqi port city

    Article from: Agence France-Presse
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    From correspondents in Basra

    July 11, 2007 = 05:37pm

    THE Iraqi port = city of Basra,=20 already prey to a nasty turf war between rival militia factions, has now = been=20 gripped by a scary rumour =96 giant badgers are stalking the streets by = night,=20 eating humans.

    The animals were allegedly released into the area by British = forces.

    Local farmers have caught and killed several of the beasts, but this = has done=20 nothing to dispel the rumour.

    Iraqi scientists have attempted to calm things down. However, the = story has=20 spread like wildfire in the streets of the city and the villages round=20 about.

    Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, director of Basra's veterinary hospital, has = inspected=20 the corpses of several badgers and tries to reassure Iraqis that the = animals are=20 not a new post-war arrival in the region.

    =93These animals appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They = are known=20 as Al-Ghirayri and locally as Al-Girta,=94 he told AFP. =93Talk that = this animal was=20 brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific.=94

    Not everybody is convinced.

    =93I believe this animal appeared following a raid to the region by = the British=20 forces,=94 said Ali Mohsen, a farmer in his 40s from Karmat Ali, near = the air base=20 used by the multinational force.

    =93As we are close to the airport, they probably released this animal = into the=20 area.=94

    British troops have been based in Basra since the 2003 US-led = invasion=20 overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, and the 5500 that remain still face = the=20 threat of Shiite militias battling for the region's oil resources.

    They also have to battle the Iraqi rumour mill, as locals are quick = to blame=20 them for almost any calamity that befalls the area =96 including an = apparent=20 plague of vicious badgers with long claws and powerful jaws.

    British army spokesman Major David Gell said the animals were thought = to be a=20 kind of honey badger =96 melivora capensis =96 which can be fierce but = are not=20 usually dangerous to humans unless provoked.

    =93They are native to the region but rare in Iraq. They're nocturnal = carnivores=20 with a fearsome reputation, but they don't stalk humans and carry them = back to=20 their lair,=94 he said.

    Both the scientists and the soldiers agree that the badger ought not = to be a=20 danger to humans, but so far they have failed to reassure the = populace.

    =93I was sleeping at night when this strange animal hit me on my = head. I have=20 not seen such an animal before. My husband hurried to shoot it but it = was as=20 swift as a deer,=94 Suad Hassan, a 30-year-old housewife said.

    =93It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey. It runs so=20 quickly.=94

    Cell phone video of the badgers circulating in Basra shows a stocky=20 skunk-like animal with long front claws.

    The honey badger, or ratel, is known as a brave predator capable of = killing a=20 cobra. It weighs up to 14kg.

    Sattar Jabbar, a 50-year-old local farmer from Abu Sakhar north of = Basra,=20 believes the badger can tackle even large prey.

    =93I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals. It even ate a = cow. It=20 tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it = ran away=20 into the orchards. I missed it,=94 he said.

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