Eight camels and a llama escaped from a circus in Madrid after the fence guarding the animals was reportedly cut.
Police shared a tweet stating that they had found the exotic animals roaming the streets of the capital at around 5am on Friday.
They were found not far from where the circus, named Gran Circo Quiros, is based, in the southern district of Carabanchel.
The police said that the animals were found and returned to the circus safely.
However, the circus has claimed that the animals were released in an act of “sabotage”.
The circus said on Instagram: “Last night we suffered an animal sabotage, the animals are well.”
Circus manager Mati Munoz blamed animal activists for the camels escaping, telling AFP that the electric fence around the animals’ enclosure had been cut.
He added that animal rights activists protest the circus every year.
The City Council of Madrid has banned wild-animal circuses, saying they don’t meet “animals’ physiological, mental, and social needs” or respect their welfare.
Bactrian camels originate from the rocky deserts of central and eastern Asia and are able to survive in extreme conditions. However, the vast majority of them are now domesticated.
Wild animals are now banned from travelling circuses in the UK after legislation was passed under the Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019.
It includes any animal not typically domesticated in the UK, such as big cats, camels, elephants, reindeer and zebras.
