Pete the moose saved by internet

Pete the home-raised moose has been reprieved after an online campaign.

Vermont's favourite animal, ordered last summer to be removed from a game preserve or destroyed in case he mixed with wild elk and deer and spread disease, will now be allowed to stay on the land near the US-Canada border.

The plight of the 700lb (317kg) moose, brought up in an animal-lover's compound, went viral, prompting a "Save Pete the Moose" website, a Facebook page, about 10,000 YouTube views and a rally at the statehouse.