Eideard

Her sister, Waltraut, awaits her return

A runaway cow named Yvonne is on the loose in Germany and the manhunt — or moohunt — for the Bavarian bovine has captivated the country.

The freedom-loving cow ran away from a little farm in Bavaria in May and has managed to hide successfully in the forests of southern Germany ever since — despite her sturdy 1,500-pound (700-kilogram) figure.

Locals have reported a few sightings of the brown dairy cow with the white head, but every time search teams have tried to capture her, Yvonne had already hoofed it from the area. A helicopter equipped with a thermal camera used in search-and-rescue missions returned Thursday empty-handed.

Searchers have tried to lure Yvonne into the open with food, with the bellows of her son Friesi and her sister Waltraud, even with a prospective mate named Ernst. Scores of volunteers are combing upper Bavaria’s woods for her.

The six-year-old animal would have never made national headlines if it hadn’t been for a near-collision with a police car days after she broke away. The rural district office in Muehldorf reacted by labeling the big-eyed bovine a public danger and ordering her shot on sight.

That prompted animal-rights activists to rally to her defense. A Facebook page calling for Yvonne’s rescue had more-than 23,000 “likes” by Friday, and Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper, Bild, has offered a 10,000 euro reward on its front page for anyone who helps find Yvonne.

In the wake of all the attention, the order to shoot Yvonne has been suspended.

A animal sanctuary in Bavaria has bought Yvonne — sight unseen — from the farmer she escaped from and is now in charge of trying to find her. Hopefully they’re better at it than the silly buggers who have been trying.

UPDATE: Yvonne has surrendered and has been taken to the Gut Aiderbichi animal sanctuary to live out her days.

A small airliner crashed into a house, killing a British pilot and 19 others after a crocodile smuggled into the aircraft in a sports bag escaped and started a panic. The plane came down despite no apparent mechanical problems during an internal flight in the Democratic Republic of Congo…

A lone survivor apparently relayed the bizarre tale to investigators.

The crocodile survived the crash, only to be dispatched with a blow from a machete…

The plane was on a routine flight from the capital, Kinshasa, to the regional airport at Bandundu when the incident unfolded, on August 25. It crashed into a house just a few hundred feet from its destination. The occupants of the property were outside at the time.

According to the inquiry report and the testimony of the only survivor, the crash happened because of a panic sparked by the escape of a crocodile hidden in a sports bag.

One of the passengers had hidden the animal, which he planned to sell, in a big sports bag, from which the reptile escaped as the plane began its descent into Bandundu.

A report of the incident said: “The terrified air hostess hurried towards the cockpit, followed by the passengers.”

The plane was then sent off-balance “despite the desperate efforts of the pilot”, said the report.

Hey, it happens to ferry boats all the time.

“Look! A nude bathing beach.” Splash.