A father captured the heartbreaking moment a pelican attempted to revive its dead friend at a popular zoo in Singapore.
Although a member of staff was eventually able to remove the dead bird, the incident left the children who were visiting Singapore Zoo at the time in tears, as they realised what was happening.
The dad-of-two was visiting the zoo on Monday, October 7, with his young children when the incident happened, and decided to document the moment before zoo staff arrived at the scene.
You can watch the heartbreaking footage of the pelicans below:
The video shows the pelican making several attempts to wake its companion up, lifting the bird’s head and desperately trying to bring its friend back to life.
Despite its efforts though, the pelican remained lifeless in the water as visitors looked on in horror and children could be heard crying in the background.
The dad-of-two said:
It was quite distressing. You take your children to a zoo to see the wonders of nature and instead, [you] see dead wildlife floating in the displays.
The parent, a British expat who now lives in Singapore, said he immediately told a staff member about the lifeless bird in the hope that other children wouldn’t have to witness what his children already had.
The man explained how he spotted the dead bird at approximately 9.50 in the morning, and told a member of staff immediately. However, the bird reportedly remained in the tank, floating lifelessly, for more than 10 minutes before any action was taken.
Instead of closing off the area and asking people to leave to prevent any further distress, the dad claimed the member of staff proceeded to remove the deceased animal in front of a growing crowd of children.
The dad went on to say:
A keeper came and took the bird out of the tank ten minutes later in front of a few shocked kids and tourists.
The worker in question can be seen quickly retrieving the pelican and taking it out of sight in the footage taken by the father.
But the damage was already done; while the dead bird was being removed, a crowd of visitors looked visibly distressed and children could be heard crying in the background.
UNILAD has reached out to Singapore Zoo for comment.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).