How many Ukrainians to get a camel out of a well?

Jun 8, 2007, 11:04 GMT

Camel EPA/Andreas Endermann

Kiev - A team of Ukrainian rescue experts and firemen used block and tackle and earthmoving equipment to haul a camel stuck in a water well, Fakty newspaper reported Friday.

The two-humped Bactrian fell into the hole in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhia region, near a Black Sea resort beach.

The animal, not native to the region for centuries, was left unattended by its owner, who ran a small summer business selling rides and photographs aboard the camel for a fee.

The owner tied the camel to a long rope and departed the region for a day, leaving the animal to graze. The camel broke the rope, and became stuck in the well while searching for water, according to the report.

Firemen and rescue workers from Primorsko village learned of the camel's predicament after receiving a phone call from a passer-by reporting something large at the bottom the well.

The recovery team required four hours to drag the 400-kilogram animal from the shaft, using block and tackle, and an earth-moving machine to excavate ground around the well.

Though frightened and weak, the camel was unharmed, said Volodymyr Shvets, a fireman.

The camel was recovering from its ordeal at a Zaporizhia animal shelter. Law enforcers were reportedly searching for the camel's owner to serve animal cruelty charges against him.

Circus animals used by Ukrainians to generate a little cash, and running into trouble near water, have been in the news in recent months.

A crocodile broke loose from its handlers at a crowded Black Sea beach near the city of Marioupol on June 10, and as of last report was at large somewhere off shore.

A brown bear taken for a swim to cool off in a lake near the western city of Lviv in late May turned on its handler and nearly drowned him, before being recaptured. Like the crocodile, circus workers had brought the bear to a body of water, to cool the animal off during a heat wave.