SYDNEY, July 11 (Xinhua) -- A camel escaped from the circus in the popular tourist city of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory late Monday, leading police on a three-hour chase in the downtown areas of the city before finally being captured.
Circus Royale, a circus spectacular that was hosting events on the outskirts of the city, was where the desert animal began its escape, heading for one of the busiest roads in the entire territory.
The police duty superintendent in charge, Rob Burgoyne, told local media that it was a very "strange call" to have received.
"It caused a bit of traffic mayhem for a few minutes as it ran down a few streets," Burgoyne said.
"It then ended up on the RAAF base golf course where circus personnel were able to secure it on the ninth green."
"At least they managed to catch it before it caused any more problems." he added.
A witness to the event, Meng-Hsuan Lee recounted her experience as she was minding her own business on a city street, to be then confronted with the "funny scene" of the escaped creature as it passed by her.
"I just walked and heard one men yell to another 'don't run or the camel will run more'," Lee said.
"When they tried to catch it, the camel started to run and cross the road."
Trying to catch a camel in this way is the worst possible way to subdue these animals, according to world-renowned camel expert Paddy McHugh, who told Xinhua on Tuesday that there is a much simpler way to tame these noble beasts.
"Chasing a camel is the worst thing you can do," McHugh said.
"You're better off just leaving it to settle and taking some feed up to it, and generally you can catch them always with food. They are suckers for food."
The city of Darwin is no stranger to having escaped animals let loose on its streets, with crocodiles, cattle, and pigs, all having similar encounters with the law over the years. Enditem
