Alpacas pine for missing companions
The plight of blind alpaca Bambi has worsened following the theft of his brother, and now a third alpaca’s life could be in danger.
Bambi relied on his sibling Charisma to guide him safely through day-to-day life in the steep gullies of the Dairy Flat paddocks, north of Auckland, that they call home.
But when Charisma was stolen sometime between March 12 and March 20, Bambi was left stranded and unable to move.
Owner Jan Lummis, aware that being alone was stressful and lifethreatening for alpaca, initially moved sheep in with Bambi.
He was happy with the company but the sheep didn’t guide Bambi everywhere and stop him from hurting himself like Charisma did, Lummis said.
‘‘He decided to stay right down the bottom on the flat land.’’
When Bambi did try to be adventurous it could turn bad quite quickly, Lummis said.
‘‘He’ll go walking along and suddenly bash into the fence, go ‘oh gosh’ and turn around and go the other way.
‘‘He lays down most time,’’ she said.
Hoping another alpaca could step in as a surrogate for Charisma, alpaca breeder Ross Stevenson of Aristocrat Alpaca lent Lummis an alpaca named Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was introduced into the paddock on Easter Friday, but by Easter Sunday he was stressed out.
‘‘Ronaldo noises.
‘‘He is supposed to be keeping Bambi company to stop him from stressing, but it sounds like he is stressing because he has been taken away from his friends in his paddock,’’ Lummis said. is making of the funny
On Sunday, Ronaldo gazed longingly at the driveway Stevenson drove away down, issuing a low-pitched keening.
‘‘He keeps looking there as if waiting for him to come back.’’
Lummis now fears for Ronaldo too, as stress takes a toll on alpaca who can die from it within two weeks, she said.
She was not sure if the situation would work out, but was hoping Ronaldo and Bambi would become good friends over the next few days.
Police have been following up on tips from around the country following the theft of Charisma.
These included an alpaca in a trailer linked to Auckland seen driving through Levin, an alpaca carcass spotted floating off Rakino Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, and one that appeared to be abandoned in an east Auckland paddock.
All had turned out not to be Charisma, Sergeant Aaron Iremonger said.
Until new information came to light police had no further leads, he said.
Charisma, aged 13, and Bambi, 15, came as chattels when Lummis and her husband Phil purchased their Dairy Flat property four years ago.
They were now part of the family, she said.
In their glory years with their former owner, they won rosettes and ribbons for the length and quality of their fleece.
Lummis was unsure why the thieves stole Charisma, and she still held out hope he would be found.
She has been checking Trade Me, where alpaca can fetch $500-1500 or more, for any signs of him.
Her message to the people who stole Charisma was if they had a guilty conscience over Bambi’s distress, they could drop Charisma back in the paddock and no questions would be asked.
Lummis was amazed at the reaction by Kiwis and global media to the plight of her alpaca.
‘‘But I believe it has also upset a lot of people because police are spending all this time looking for an alpaca, which I think is great, but obviously other people don’t,’’ Lummis said.
Hunter killed
A person has been shot and killed while hunting in bush near Te Aroha in the Waikato region. Police said they received a call about a hunter with a gunshot wound to the chest at 10.15am on Monday. ‘‘Medical staff reached the man by helicopter but sadly he died at the scene,’’ police said. Police said there was at least one other person with the hunter and that person called emergency services. The Mountain Safety Council is working with police to better understand the events leading up to the incident.
Brothers die
Two children killed in a crash on the Desert Road in the central North Island have been identified as Arteen Mosaferi, 4, and 2-month-old Radeen Mosaferi of Hamilton. They were involved in a crash between a car and truck near Waiouru on Good Friday afternoon. Arteen died at the scene and Radeen died at Starship Hospital on Sunday, police said. Police confirmed the boys’ mother, Mohadeseh Sharifi, was in a critical condition. Father Siamak Mosaferi suffered moderate injuries. And in another crash on Good Friday, Denise Tito, 55, of Taupo, died at Tirohanga in the Bay of Plenty. Tito was understood to be the sole occupant of a vehicle that crashed about 11am. There was also a fatal accident in Rotorua on Saturday. Police were notified of a crash between a truck and a motorcycle, about 11.20am.
Bogus bill
A Napier woman has complained that her ANZ bank account was billed for Netflix but she does not subscribe to the movie and television streaming service. ANZ would not reveal how many New Zealand customers were impacted by the bogus bill from ‘‘Netflix.Com’’, for security reasons, saying only that it was ‘‘a small number’’. ‘‘We are monitoring customer accounts for any suspicious activity,’’ a spokesman said.