Johannesburg | Tuesday
Vandals have bludgeoned to death nine endangered jackass penguins, two pelicans and two gannets at an aquarium in the coastal city of East London, police said on Tuesday.
“They appear to have been bludgeoned to death with a heavy instrument,” police Captain Sibongile Ndyoko said. “The birds weren’t killed for meat, because they were left there.”
Ndyoko said detectives visited the penguin pool at the aquarium after staff found the dead birds on Sunday and Monday.
Aquarium curator Willie Maritz said he believed the vandals climbed a low wall – which affords visitors a clear view of the birds – before bludgeoning them.
He said the gang struck twice, killing a penguin and her two chicks on Saturday and the rest of the birds on Sunday night.
“This was such a shock. The penguins, and the pelicans Bobo and Bessie were like our children,” he said.
He said security guards were stationed at the pool to guard the 12 remaining jackass penguins, which have been a major attraction since the aquarium opened 70 years ago.
Maritz said two security companies in the city had offered their services free of charge.
Conservationists in South Africa last year rescued nearly 20_000 oil-soaked penguins after a Panamanian bulk ore carrier sank off Cape Town on June 23, spilling some 1_300 tonnes of oil.
Jackass penguin populations are declining rapidly due to overfishing and pollution, among other factors. – AFP