A truck carrying 20 camels from the southern Russian republic of Kalmykia to a circus in Bulgaria was stopped by Ukrainian customs officials after crossing the Russian border on January 31. Customs agents checked all of the documents and cleared the truck containing the animals to leave Russia, but the truck was not allowed into Ukrainian territory.
One of the camels died of asphyxiation during the wait at the Russian-Ukrainian border before the animals were finally cleared to transit Ukraine on February 12.
"The camels have been sitting at the border [between Moldova and Romania] for two days because the Romanians want all of the documents translated into Romanian," a spokesman for the camels' owner, the Bulgarian Stefani ART circus said. "They aren't saying when they'll clear them, they're just asking questions about why the certificate was drawn up 15 days ago, why the truck isn't Russian, and just aren't clearing them."
He also said that one of the animals had a wound on its leg and was in need of veterinary care and should be transported to Bulgaria immediately.
A spokeswoman for Romania's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the truck carrying the 19 camels had been stopped at the border.
"The camels arrived at the [Romanian] border on Saturday," Marjana Terba said. "They weren't cleared because of problems with the certificate. The certificate hasn't been translated into Romanian, English or any other language that is used in this country. It's only written in Russian. We have already spoken with our Bulgarian colleagues and have agreed that once the certificate is translated, the camels will be free to cross the border."
