Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic
wreaked havoc on the lives of Filipinos for most of this year, we have been somewhat
starved of light-hearted news that might just make us laugh if only for a bit.
Somehow, that wish was obliged during the first full week of August when a pair
of ostriches that were being kept in a Quezon City subdivision got loose from
their enclosure and went for a jog on the village streets. But what laughs were
had when video of the runaway birds when viral soured upon news that one
ostrich had died of extreme stress, even more when one learns of the ostrich’s “final
destination.”
CNN Philippines reports that the fate of one of the escapee ostriches
that was said to have died after recapture has been revealed. When the
ostriches’ caretakers were asked by wildlife authorities to produce the carcass
of the bird reported dead of stress on August 4, they were unable to show it.
That was because, as revealed to Atty. Charlie Pascual by the birds’ documented
owner Jonathan Cruz, his ostrich caretakers have decided to simply cook the ostrich
on the evening of its death rather than bury it as instructed.
Atty. Pascual submitted an
affidavit on the death of one of the flightless birds to the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which issues certificates of wildlife
registration to people wishing to keep wild animals in their residences.
Jonathan Cruz, upon being informed that one of his ostriches had died, order
the caretakers to bury it. But as they told Pascual, they felt the bird’s meat
would be wasted, and they had been hungry at the time. Though it later shamed
them to report the truth the following day, they did indeed just eat the
ostrich after its passing.
While the carcass of the
unfortunate viral ostrich, of a species considered the largest living birds in
the world, was now in its once-caretakers’ stomachs, they did take photographs
of the bird which they gave to the owner, Jonathan Cruz, who submitted them to
the DENR as proof of death, according to Undersecretary Benny Antiporda. Given
how other viral photos showing how the ostrich was manhandled during its
recapture, the stress-induced death was grimly likely. Its luckier companion,
by virtue of remaining alive after the ordeal, has already been surrendered to wildlife
officials last week.
Image: Esquire PH
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