Flamingo beaten to death by rowdy boys inside Czech zoo

A gang of mischievous schoolboys killed a pink flamingo to death inside a zoo in the Czech Republic on Friday.

Three boys aged 5, 6 and 8 years old jumped over a fence at Jihlava Zoo before throwing stones at a flock of flamingos. Then, the boys started to kick one of the birds until it haplessly broke its leg and bled to death.

When a zoo technician rushed to the chaos, the kids already killed the flamingo and injured several others. Other zoo employees chased the boys but failed to catch up with them. After calling the police and watching the CCTV footage, the boys were eventually arrested.

“First, they pelted them with stones and then one of them kicked it,” zoologist Jan Vašák told the Prague Morning. “Fortunately, one of them had a distinct yellow sweatshirt. The third [boy] escaped.”

Zoo spokesperson Martin Maláč told local news site Info.cz that the boys did not express guilt for what they did. Since they were considered minors under Czech law, their parents will have to pay compensation for beating the flamingo and traumatizing the rest. “These flamingos will suffer. They are fragile and if they break a leg, it’s usually the end because the bird will bleed to death,” Maláč told the local news site.

READ: Poachers trespass Paris zoo, kill rhino for its horn

The male flamingo, aged 16, was a good breeder who fathered eight birds. It also survived a flooding incident when it was stationed at a Prague zoo in 2002. The bird is priced at around 2,000 euros (P107,000).

The flamingo’s demise is the latest case of uncontrolled zoo attacks across the world. Earlier this month, poachers trespassed on a French zoo, murdered a rhinoceros and snapped its horn.  Gianna Francesca Catolico /ra