By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – Just 14 days after a flamingo had to be euthanized from being struck by a rock, Miller Park Zoo Superintendent Jay Tetzloff is telling his side of the story.

The flamingo exhibit, which was built in the spring of 2016, featured 25 flamingos prior to the incident.

“We had an unfortunate incident, we had a juvenile, a second-grader throw a rock at a flamingo. Did he do it on purpose, only really he knows,” added Tetzloff, who said he’s still receiving interview requests about the incident. “It hit the bird just right in the leg, and flamingos do not heal well from broken legs anyway, but the injury was so severe we had to euthanize the flamingo. I’m the only one that knows the kids name; no city staff has his name. I’ve talked with the family multiple times and we are working it out with them. I can’t bring the bird back so we are working it out with the family.”

Tetzloff added that even though Miller Park Zoo prides itself on an up-close environment with the animals, no major changes will take place with the flamingo exhibit. Currently Miller Park Zoo does not have mandates on the number of chaperones needed for field trips.

“We do not have mandates for the amount of chaperones per kids on school groups, that was not the issue here,” added Tetzloff, who added there will be no changes to the flamingo exhibit. “That’s the other part that was quite a shock was that we do not have these problems that other zoos have. It’s just an unfortunate incident, I can’t bring the bird back, it sucks, it was one of the worst weeks of my career… I want us to be known for lots of things nationally and internationally, but not for this.”

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].