Police deny, farm owner mum over wild beast attack

An official source from Fujairah police has denied that any sort of wild animal is terrorising the Masafi area or that any farmer has lost livestock to a wild beast attack.

The Director of Criminal Investigation branch in Masafi Captain Mohammed said that he had not received any complaints from any citizen of any farm animals being attacked.

He said he has only heard about the subject on Twitter and Blackberry.

Colonel Ali Tunaiji, Director of Fujairah Civil Defence, said he too had not received any communication in this regard.

He said: "In the past there could have been an attack on farms near the mountains, but now with construction in the area this phenomenon has declined."

He said the last major event involving an animal in the area was a monkey that escaped from a farm and broke into people's homes.

Lt. Saeed Al Hommer from the Fujairah Police media Department said that there was no call to the 999 emergency number reporting any attack.

The owner of a farm in the area Ahmed Dawood Abdooli said he could not confirm or deny the attack.

He said that it is possible for a stray wild animal to come down from the mountains in search of water during summer.

The micro-blogging site Twitter was abuzz yesterday over claims that a wild animal or a pack of animals terrorising farmers and livestock in the Masafi area near Fujairah, may not be true.

At least one local English newspaper stated the attack was just a rumour, spread on Twitter itself. The report quoted police sources.

However, according to a report in Al Bayan earlier, residents of the area are living in fear after several sheep have been found mauled to death.

Lion tries to eat baby

One affected livestock owner claimed 15 sheep died in a single night.

Officials from the Ministry of Environment have taken samples for analysis to determine what kind of beast is behind the attacks.

However, one wild animal expert, Badr Al Marikhy, that the report quoted said he suspected that a lynx, or a pack of them, could be behind the attacks.

“I am not sure, but the scratches and injuries and suggest a lynx,” he said.

He added, “Lynx have different names locally,  and with the onset of summer feed on livestock they descend from the mountains because of the heat and lack of food.”

One livestock owner said that his sheep are a rare breed called ‘Rahbani’ that cost a lot.

Masafi Municipality has appealed to people to report any strange animal sighted in the area and to call the municipality immediately. 

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