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Rampaging ostrich attacks family
11/03/2008 14:46 - (SA)
Vienna - Austrian police shot an escaped ostrich as it was attacking a family in their garden, authorities said on Tuesday.
The ostrich escaped from a nearby breeding farm in Upper Austria province on Monday, found its way into the yard of a house, and then started to attack the owners.
A 31-year-old woman stood up to the violently pecking 90kg bird using a wooden board to defend herself and her two small children, police said.
When police arrived, the ostrich had the house owners cornered on a garden bench. It then went for the officers, forcing them to shoot and kill the animal in self-defence.
Police said it was not the first time birds from that particular local breeder had attempted to answer the call of the wild, resulting in emergency calls about "huge ducks on the road".
Local authorities had issued shooting orders in case of imminent danger to persons by the aggressive birds. - Sapa-dpa
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