A Lehigh Acres man has been arrested for throwing a rock at a flamingo at Busch Gardens and injuring the bird.
Police say the incident happened at around 6 p.m. on Friday. Police responded to the flamingo display area in the park after a report of a person throwing a rock at one of the flamingos. The flamingo was hit by a rock causing it to fall to the ground and causing injury to the bird.
Witnesses identified Julian Antonio Marquez, 19, as the person that threw the rock.
Marquez was charged with Aggravated cruelty to animals and has been released on bond.
An official with Busch Gardens says that the flamingo is back with the flock and is doing fine.
This is the 2nd recent incident of flamingos being attacked at Busch Gardens. Last summer, an Orlando man was arrested for killing a flamingo in the park. He was charged with animal abuse, but later found incompetent to stand trial.
