Three Young Boys Beat A Flamingo To Death At Prague Zoo

Credit: CEN/TV NOVA

A captive flamingo has been beaten to death by three children who visited a zoo in the Czech Republic last Friday. The boys, that were aged five, six and eight, attacked a flock of American flamingos by throwing rocks at them at Jihlava Zoo, located in the town in the Czech Republic’s south-central Vysocina Region. Elizabeth Kubikova, the zoo’s director, said on Sunday, “I was appalled by the brutal attack.” According to reports, the boys are believed to have climbed over a fence in order to reach the birds, before pelting rocks at them repeatedly. The young boys were also seen kicking two of the flamingos, which is when an electrician interrupted them and stopped the violent attack on the birds. Reports have since stated that one of the two attacked birds died, while the other one sustained serious injuries.

The dead bird was a survivor of the floods at the Prague Zoo back in 2002. He was a male and the father to eight babies. Although flamingos tend to live until they are around 30-40 years old, the attack meant that the flamingo’s life was ended very prematurely, when he was just 16 years old. After being caught, the three boys fled from the scene, although CCTV footage allowed police officers to locate them again. The zoo spokesperson, Martin Malac, told Czech media that the three boys expressed no regret whatsoever for what they had done to the animals.

According to reports by local media in the Czech Republic, the boys refused to talk to municipal police, therefore the officers called in state police to deal with them. So far no clear motive for the attack has been reported. The police are currently investigating the incident, and there remains a possibility that the parents of the three boys will have to pay a fine for the damage that they caused at the zoo. The flamingo that lost his life due to the actions of the boys was valued at around 50,000 crowns, which is just under $2,000.

Richard Viduna, a zoo employee, has since asked for the public’s help in reporting any suspected cases of animal abuse. He told Czech media, “It would be helpful for us if the visitors would pay attention to acts such as these and report them.” This news has emerged during the same month that a number of wildlife tragedies have occurred in zoos, which have also resulted in the deaths of captive animals. Merely a few days before, a crocodile was stoned to death in a zoo in Tunisia, after visitors threw huge rocks and paving slabs at the animal’s head. The incident resulted in the crocodile suffering an internal hemorrhage which ended its life. Together with the flamingo death, there appeared to be no clear motive for the animal attack. Just a few days before this, a white rhino was brutally slaughtered by poachers who broke into a French zoo in order to saw off the horn from the rhino’s face in order to sell on the Asian market for huge profits.

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