Official: Camels could carry Olympic torch

MOSCOW, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Camels should carry the Olympic torch part of the route in Russia before the 2014 Winter Games, the governor of the southern Russian region of Astrakhan says.

"Our region is the only place in Russia and Europe that has camel races, so camel riders can carry the flame across the border between Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region," Alexander Zhilkin told the online newspaper Gazeta.ru.

In 20 days leading to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, the torch will travel about 17,000 miles, with side trips to Mount Elbrus in western Caucasus, Europe's highest mountain, and Lake Baikal in Siberia, the world's deepest freshwater lake, RIA Novosti reported.