Vandals terrorised a flock of 60 penguins at Belfast Zoo, tossing one to its death in the nearby lions' enclosure, writes Clare Murphy.
Keepers made the discovery yesterday when they noted the birds acting strangely at their early feed. A search was started when it was discovered one was missing.
The senior keeper at the zoo, Mr Alyn Cairns, said staff believed drunken vandals with metal bars and stones had chased the birds in their enclosure. Some of the larger, slower penguins suffered minor injuries.
He stressed that the penguin was not eaten by the lions. "We think he died of stress, but a full post-mortem will have to be carried out," he said.
"The one that died was a King penguin, the largest of the five species of penguin in the zoo. We think they took him and tossed him into the moat in the lions' enclosure. He would then probably have swum up on to the other side."
Beer cans were found nearby, and Mr Cairns said were becoming an increasing problem. Security was in place with a barbed-wire perimeter fence and barriers at each enclosure.
Mr Stephen Philpott of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was an example of "mindless cruelty . . . In every other country when you are setting up a zoo you have to think about how to protect the public from the animals. In Northern Ireland it seems you have to consider protecting the animals from the public."