WILDLIFE activists were horrified when they saw a camel being led through a music festival.

The camel, which appeared in the latest Aladdin film, was walked through the crowds at the Land Beyond Festival in East Brighton Park between 1pm and 4.30pm on Sunday. His handlers later put him into a pen to protect him from enthusiastic festivalgoers who wanted to hug him.

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But the Wildlife Coldean group said an animal should not have been taken in among all the revellers and loud music.

A spokeswoman said: “Two people forced the camel to walk directly through the middle of drunken crowds at a festival with loud bass music, right next to the funfair rides.

“The camel must have been feeling so frightened and overwhelmed by the noises, sensory overload, atmosphere and loud drunken humans surrounding it in an entirely inappropriate, unknown and terrifying environment.”

One of two women taking the camel around was apparently telling festival-goers about its film roles.

A spokesman for Joseph’s Amazing Camels, the company responsible for the animal, said: “We are committed to the highest standards of welfare. Our camels have a 15-acre field to live in during the day and then they come into their stables at night. They graze on grass during the day with access to fresh water and at night they have hay and feed to eat. They are washed and groomed regularly and have just had a check up with the vet who wormed them and gave vitamin boosters.

“They are much-loved pets who also work. Camels have been domesticated for longer than horses and have worked in tandem with man in many aspects. The camel who came to the festival is a star of stage and screen and has appeared in the films Aladdin, Bad Move, The Aeronauts, and an E-Harmony advert and has taken part in many public events including the Lord Mayor’s Parade, festivals Wilderness, Secret Garden Party and Bestival.

“At no point was the camel in any way upset or harmed. He enjoyed the music and loved the attention.”

A spokesman for festival organiser Rox Promotions, said the welfare of the camel was a top priority.