A brown bear escaped from its cage in the cargo compartment of the plane at Dubai International Airport. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani has ordered an investigation.
A team of specialists in Dubai put the bear to sleep and removed it from the plane, Iraqi Airways said in a statement carried by the CNN news portal. A video has also spread on the Internet, showing that the teddy bear is walking around the cabin of the plane, and the passengers in it are petting it and trying to calm it down.
The airline apologized on Saturday, saying the bear had escaped from its cage “on arrival at Dubai airport”.
“The company apologizes to the passengers on the flight from Baghdad International Airport to Dubai Airport for the inconvenience caused due to reasons beyond the control of the company,” the statement said.
“The delay was due to the shipment in the cargo hold,” the airline said, adding that it was transported in accordance with international animal welfare guidelines.
“In coordination with the flight crew, a specialized team arrived to euthanize the animal and remove it from the plane. After inspecting the plane and making sure that there was no damage in this incident, the plane returned to Baghdad,” the statement said.
The airline did not say why the bear was brought to the United Arab Emirates, nor did it provide any information about how the animal was doing after it was put to sleep and taken off the plane.
Iraq’s Ministry of Transport later announced that two bears were on the flight.
“Two small bears were sent from Baghdad and when the flight arrived in Dubai, one of the bears broke its cage,” the statement said.
Keeping wild animals as pets has recently become particularly popular in Iraq, and enforcement of wildlife laws is becoming increasingly difficult for authorities.
2023-08-08 18:31:37
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