Sudanese goat marriage incident
Rose was a goat from the Hai Malakal suburb of Juba, the capital of the Sudanese region of South Sudan, who became an internet phenomenon when a local man was caught by the goat's owner having sex with the goat. The owner took the man to the village elders, who determined that he should 'marry' the goat and pay a 15,000-dinar dowry (approximately US$50).[1]
The goat apparently acquired the name "Rose" after her rise to international fame.
The story, first published on 24 February 2006 on the BBC website, attracted massive attention and was republished on numerous newspapers, blogs and other websites [1]. Even a year after publication, the story was consistently among the BBC's 10 most emailed articles, with many visitors to the BBC news site finding the tale amusing and passing it onto friends. The story received over 100,000 hits on five successive days long after its original publication, and was read by millions of people. The BBC, astonished at this popularity, wondered if there was a campaign to keep the tale at the top of its rankings; however, an investigation by its senior software engineer, Gareth Owen, determined that the demand was genuine [2].
Death
On May 3 2007 it was reported that the goat had died, having choked on a plastic bag.[2] The BBC honoured the animal with a mock obituary [3]. The death was also reported in many other news outlets, including The Times[4], the Daily Mail[5], and Fox News.[6]
References
- ↑ Sudanese man forced to marry goat, BBC News, 24 February 2006
- ↑ Sudan's famous goat 'wife' dies, BBC News, 3 May 2007
- ↑ R.I.P Sudan's married goat, BBC News, 4 May 2007
- ↑ Rose the goat ‘wife’ chokes to death on a plastic bag, Times Online, 4 May 2007
- ↑ Man widowed after his goat 'wife' chokes to death, Daily Mail, 4 May 2007
- ↑ 'Goat Man' of Sudan Becomes a 'Widower', Fox News, 3 May 2007
