var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime() Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Blind flamingo at zoo assaulted - Adelaide, SA (AU)
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Case ID: 14815
Classification: Beating
Animal: captive exotic
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Blind flamingo at zoo assaulted
Adelaide, SA (AU)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008

Disposition: Alleged

Abuser names unreleased

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Four teenagers in Australia have been charged with an attack on an almost blind greater flamingo, thought to be one of the oldest of its kind alive.

Police and zoo officials said the flamingo's head and beak were injured and it was bleeding from an eye.

The bird, aged at least 75 years, is in a critical condition, zoo staff said.

The bird has been at the zoo for most of its life and, with its Chilean partner, has been one of Adelaide zoo's most popular exhibits.

Police said four men aged between 17 and 19 were charged with aggravated ill-treatment of an animal and released on bail to appear in court at a later date.

Several visitors at the zoo at the time of the attack had spoken about the incident with zoo staff and officers wanted to interview them, a spokesman said.

The injured bird, described as tame and docile, was sedated after the attack and taken to a local veterinary clinic where its condition was reported to have improved overnight.

The exact age of the flamingo remains unknown, as proper records from his arrival in the 1930s do not exist.

"The bird arrived at the zoo in 1933 and was a mature bird at that stage," a spokeswoman for the zoo told Agence France Presse.

"So although we don't know its exact age it is at least 75 years old - much older than they grow in the wild," the spokeswoman said.

"Although undoubtedly the oldest flamingo in the world its quality of life is very good," the zoo's website says.

Public outrage

Zoo bird keeper Vaughan Wilson was quoted as saying the birds had been popular partly because they were accessible to the public.

But he said the knee-high fence separating the flamingos from the crowd had always caused concern.

Australian newspapers reported that the attack had caused public outrage and that radio talk shows were overwhelmed by calls.

Adelaide zoo has had its share of brutal incidents before: in 1985, two men broke in and killed 64 animals.

In November 2006, a pair of valuable African grey parrots was stolen, seven months after the theft of a baby meerkat called Wanda.

A rare squirrel monkey was also taken in 2004.


Case Updates

The flamingo that was bashed at the Adelaide Zoo on Wednesday is refusing to eat, which is worrying zoo staff. The flamingo, which is around 75 years old, was left in a critical condition after it was allegedly attacked by four teenagers, who have all been charged.

Volunteers are keeping watch at the flamingo enclosure, and the zoo is considering putting in higher guard rails.

The zoo's chief executive Chris West says the bird has made a strong recovery so far, but is not eating properly yet.

"He's been back in the water, he's not dropped much weight," he said.

"He is going to the toilet, which is obviously good, but we're not going to be entirely comfortable until he starts to eat again."
Source: ABC News - Nov 2, 2008
Update posted on Nov 2, 2008 - 5:46PM 
The flamingo that was bashed at Adelaide Zoo returned to its enclosure yesterday, still unsteady on its legs but otherwise on the way to recovery.

The half-blind greater flamingo, one of the oldest in the world at over 70 years of age, was beaten around the head and beak during an attack on Wednesday that provoked public outrage. Four youths, aged 17 to 19, have been charged by police with animal cruelty.

Greater, as the injured flamingo is known, was welcomed back by its "other half", a Chilean flamingo that has been its constant companion for the past half-century. The birds' handlers feared the Chilean would have gone into decline without its friend.

"I think it's very important they are back together. You can hear them calling to each other and that just shows that the bond is still there," senior birdkeeper Brett Backhouse said. "They feed off each other a lot. Yesterday, we were saying that they were very quiet, but they are talking to each other now and you could probably call that happiness."

Family First state MP Dennis Hood said juveniles accused of violent crimes should be "named and shamed" rather than have their identities shielded by the courts.

The flamingos are so docile they linger at the edge of their open enclosure, where they can be photographed.

Their handlers say they do not know whether the bashing of Greater will cause the birds to keep their distance from visitors.

Greater arrived at the zoo in the 1930s, followed by the Chilean a decade later, and they are among the zoo's top drawcards.
Source: The Australian - Nov 1, 2008
Update posted on Nov 2, 2008 - 5:46PM 

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