As the Millennium celebrations get under way here in Britain, one big event is taking place thanks to the help of ferrets -- small, carnivorous mammals that are more often used to hunt rabbits in their burrows.

Engineers preparing for a pop concert at Greenwich Park in south-east London are using ferrets to install cables through pipes under the stage.

The ferrets are sent through the ducts towing light nylon line, which is then used to pull the wires through.

A ferret expert says the use of the animals is not at all cruel -- they're doing exactly what comes naturally to them.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service