Pink pelican killed, eggs stolen in Artis zoo robbery

Someone broke into Artis Zoo in Amsterdam on Sunday night and stole 10 of 14 pelican eggs. They also broke one pelican's leg, which resulted in the animal dying, and seriously disrupted the group of birds during breeding season. The Amsterdam zoo filed charges of animal cruelty, theft and vandalism, the zoo announced on Wednesday, ANP reports.

So far no suspects were arrested. The incident was also not caught on camera.

Artis director Haig Balian does not know what the burglars did to the pelican eggs. "You get strange people who have the strangest animals in house, but we have no evidence that the intruders were deliberately looking for the eggs. It might just be vandalism. But the ten eggs are really gone and we found no broken eggs."

If the eggs are handled carefully, they may still hatch, he added.

A total of 48 pink pelicans live in Artis zoo. They are mainly found in East and Southeast Europe in the wild.