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BBC News Online | World | Middle East | British blamed for Basra badgers

12 Jul 07 13:00 14:00 UK



British blamed for Basra badgers

British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.
Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic.
But several of the creatures, caught and killed by local farmers, have been identified by experts as honey badgers.
The rumours spread because the animals had appeared near the British base at Basra airport.
UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area.
"We have been told these are indigenous nocturnal carnivores that don't attack humans unless cornered."
The director of Basra's veterinary hospital, Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, has inspected several of the animals' corpses.
He told the AFP news agency: "These appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known locally as Al-Girta.
"Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific."
Dr Ghazi Yaqub Azzam, deputy dean of Basra's veterinary college, speculated that the badgers were being driven towards the city because of flooding in marshland north of Basra.
But the assurances did little to convince some members of the public.
One housewife, Suad Hassan, 30, claimed she had been attacked by one of the badgers as she slept.
"My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer," she said. "It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey," she told AFP.



From Bisbain Times Austrailia:

'We did not deploy man-eating badgers'
Dylan Welch | July 13, 2007 - 10:41AM
It's one of the more extraordinary statements issued by those chaps in the British Army.
"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area," said British military spokesman Major Mike Shearer.
To make it crystal, another spokesman added: "We have not released giant badgers in Basra and nor have we been collecting eggs and releasing serpents into the Shatt al-Arab river."
Rumours abound among people in the southern Iraqi city that British troops based in the area since 2003 introduced bear-like beasts, with large fangs and claws and a penchant for human flesh, to sow panic.
The rumours spread because sightings of the strange animals occurred near the British base near Basra airport.
"I was sleeping at night when this strange animal hit me on my head. I have not seen such an animal before. My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer," said local housewife Suad Hassan.
She described the animal as the size of a dog but with head like a monkey.
Cell phone video of the animals circulating in Basra shows a stocky skunk-like animal with long front claws.
But despite the fantastic rumours spreading through Basra about the origins of the animals, they have been identified by local vets as the honey badger.
Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, director of Basra's veterinary hospital, has inspected the corpses of several dead badgers and has tried to reassure his fellow citizens that the badgers are not a new post-war arrival in the region.
"These animals appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known as Al-Ghirayri and locally as Al-Girta," he said. "Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific."
The honey badger, or ratel, is known as a brave predator capable of killing a cobra. It weighs up to 14 kilos and is not known to kill humans and drag them away to its lair.
But some locals are having none of the scientific confirmation, suggesting the animal is capable of incredible feats.
Sattar Jabbar, a 50-year-old local farmer from Abu Sakhar north of Basra, said he saw one of the animals "eat a cow" recently.
"It tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it ran away into the orchards. I missed it," he said.
Such sightings have led many to one single conclusion - it's the British.
"I believe this animal appeared following a raid to the region by the British forces," said local farmer Ali Mohsen.
"As we are close to the airport, they probably released this animal into the area," he reasoned.


British Intelligence e-Confrence

13 July 2007 3:17 GMT
When asked about huge ferocious and carnivous badgers, swift as deer atacking Iraqi civilians, "Totally implosable" was the response from MI-6 press spokesperson, Ms. Jane Moneypenny, "These creatures described could not have been released by British personal. Besides our giant badgers shamble rather than bolt like deer... Ah, that is if we had any giant badgers, which I can not confirm, Thank You."