The two dromedaries -- five-year-old, 800-kilogramme (1,765-pound) Simbas and three-year-old, one-tonne Judas -- were part of a caravan of performers and animals that went to the French countryside to wait for new gigs after the Paris circus abruptly stopped touring following a road accident last summer.
Members of the circus troupe, who kept the camels along with llamas, goats, donkeys, a pony and a member of a long-horned species of African cattle called the Watusi, said they visited the animals daily and that neighbours regularly brought hay, straw and carrots for them.
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"We realised yesterday and lodged a complaint with the police, who are investigating," circus director Mickael Douchet told AFP from the small commune of Estivareilles in central France.
Local broadcaster France 3 reported that the circus troupe believed animal rights activists may have targeted the camels.
