The camel was gifted to her as a milestone 60th birthday present, before it ‘humped her to death’ at their family home in Australia
For her 60th birthday, Pam Weaver’s husband, Noel, gave her an unforgettable gift – a camel they would keep as a pet.
Horrifyingly, less than 12 months later Pam had been killed by the pet, which was supposed to be a thoughtful gift.
Following her death in 2007, her husband and daughter found her body at their family sheep and cattle ranch in the Mitchell area of Australia, Metro reports. It was as her daughter was cooking dinner, placing a fresh cup of tea on the table, when she ran to their garden in panic.
There stood the 330-pound camel, who had knocked her mother over onto the floor and, according to her, made an attempt to ‘mate’ with her. In the process, the giant animal crushed Pam’s body beneath its weight, leaving her with “one definite footprint” on the side of her face and one remaining on her arm.
According to The Courier Mail, the camel was just 10 months old and had been displaying signs of erratic behaviour for the period of time leading up to the attack. It’s reported it had already made attempts to ‘straddle’ other animals on the ranch, including their pet goat.
Present at the scene was Detective Craig Gregory, who said: “I would say it had probably been playing, or it may even be a sexual sort of thing.” Meanwhile, camel expert Chris Hill explained he had no doubt that the camel’s behaviour was sexual, Metro reports.
Gregory said: “It had a bit of a habit with a goat, knocking it over and sort of straddling it and laying on top of it. It’s been chased off the goat a few times.”
It became evident Pam and Noel had a shared love for housing exotic pets. To mark the special occasion, instead of buying the camel, her family had even considered gifting her a llama or alpaca but found them to be on the pricier side.
They thought they were in great luck living in Australia, with its fairly impressive population of wild camels, having grown even further since they were first introduced in the 1800s. This meant a camel was a far more affordable option as an unusual pet for the animal lover.
The camel expert further noted camels aren’t aggressive animals by nature but are also not pets. He warned they can be dangerous if they are treated as pets, and according to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, many locations even require a licence for simply owning one.
Detective Craig Gregory added some further colour to the unusual situation, saying: “It was only young, and it had been hand-reared. It drinks out of a bottle and eats out of your hand.”