Thread: Four teens charged over bashing of Adelaide Zoo flamingo

Four teens charged over bashing of Adelaide Zoo flamingo

FOUR teenagers have been charged over an attack on a blind elderly flamingo at the Adelaide Zoo that has left the bird in a critical condition.

Police said two males aged 17 and two men aged 18 and 19 were charged with aggravated ill-treatment of an animal.

They were bailed to appear in court at a later date.

Zoo officials said the bird was believed to be around 80 years old, making it one of the oldest flamingos in the world.

The flamingo was attacked yesterday afternoon and suffered beak damage, head trauma and bleeding from the left eye.

The bird was sedated and taken to a local vet and his condition improved overnight.

The flamingo arrived at the zoo in the 1930s and currently shares his enclosure with a Chilean flamingo that arrived in Adelaide about 1948.

The pair are two of only three flamingos currently in captivity in Australia.

A police spokesman said several people at the zoo at the time of the attack spoke with zoo staff, and officers wanted to interview those witnesses.

A zoo spokeswoman described the injured bird as tame and docile.

Four teens charged over bashing of Adelaide Zoo flamingo | South Australia News | News.com.au

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