Police who uncovered two marijuana fields near Canada’s border with the US had to tread carefully: 13 black bears were wandering around the crops.
The fields of about 2,300 plants were found near Christina Lake, just a few miles from the border.
Royal Candian Mounted Police corporal Dan Moskaluk said that when police arrived in the area two weeks ago, they discovered the bears and cautiously went about making the seizure. He said the bears were docile and obviously used to humans. They could be put down if they are too habituated to people.
The property’s two owners were arrested on charges of production and possession of a controlled substance.
It is unclear if they used the bears to guard the pot fields or just liked having them as pets. (AP)
Bees in major sting on US cop
A swarm of bees held an American policeman hostage in his car for three hours after tens of thousands of the stingers escaped from a broken-down lorry, his colleagues said.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning near the town of Raleigh in North Carolina when policeman Brandon Jenkins responded to calls about a vehicle stopped on the side of the road, police said.
The truck, as it turned out, was transporting 60 beehives to fertilise some orchards. (AFP)
Woman ordered to remove veil
An Australian Muslim woman who sought permission to keep her face and head covered while she gives evidence at a trial was told by a judge today she would have to remove her veil.
Perth Judge Shauna Deane ruled that it would be inappropriate for the woman, identified in court only as Tasneem, to be completely veiled while giving evidence because the jury needed to see her face to help assess her evidence.
She is a prosecution witness in a case against the director of a company that ran a Muslim women’s college in Perth. He is accused of inflating the number of students to claim grants. (AP)
Father saves girl from zoo bear
A man braved an angry bear to rescue his three-year-old daughter after the girl climbed a fence in a German zoo and tumbled into the animal’s pen.
The Dutch girl scrambled into the enclosure and fell into a moat during a family visit to the Luenebach zoo in southwest Germany.
Her 34-year-old father quickly climbed after her, but the Asiatic black bear struck her on the head. He managed to carry his daughter to safety but not before the bear also attacked him leaving him with a leg injury.
Both were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (AP)
Saudi judge seeks spine punishment
A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals whether they could damage a man’s spinal cord as punishment after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralysing him.
The Saudi Okaz newspaper reported that a leading hospital in Riyadh told the judge that it could not do the operation.
Two of the hospitals involved and the court in north-western Tabuk province were closed for the Saudi weekend and could not be reached for comment. (AP)
Jailed for smuggling falcons’ eggs
A businessman was jailed for 30 months yesterday after he admitted trying to smuggle the eggs of a rare peregrine falcon to Dubai.
Jeffrey Lendrum, 48, was caught with 14 eggs strapped to his body at Birmingham International Airport on May 3 after he was spotted acting suspiciously by a cleaner.
He had wrapped the eggs, worth £70,000, in socks before taping them to his chest.
Yesterday, Mr Lendrum, of Towcester, Northamptonshire, admitted one count of trying to export the eggs illegally and a second charge of stealing them from a nest in South Wales during a hearing at Warwick Crown Court. (PA)
Searchers in Austria on the hop
A missing kangaroo is keeping searchers in Austria on the hop.
Sumsi disappeared from a private zoo in the southern village of Preding about two months ago and keeps popping up only to vanish again.
Tourists can now buy T-shirts with the slogan “No kangaroos in Austria” because it is sometimes confused with Australia, where the animals are native. Firefighters sealed off a corn field after a sighting – but to no avail.
Not even a feeding station set up by kangaroo-crazy kids has done the trick. Zoo operator Magrid Brauchart said she was convinced the five-year-old male was stolen. (PA)