Brutal killing of hippo in zoo stuns El Salvador

A popular hippopotamus has died from wounds suffered in an attack at an El Salvador zoo, Salvadoran authorities said Monday.Gusavito, as the hippo was known, died on Sunday evening, the Ministry of Culture said.The animal sustained the fatal wounds after being beaten and stabbed by unknown assailants last Wednesday at the zoo in San Salvador.“We are outraged and saddened over the killing of the hippopotamus,” said Culture Minister Silvia Regalado.The Zoological Foundation of El Salvador also condemned the act.“We cannot understand how someone could do something like that to a defenceless animal,” foundation spokesman Mauricio Velasquez told newspaper La Prensa Grafica.Gustavito had begun to behave strangely last week, spending most of his time in his pool and not eating.When veterinarians and biologists inspected the hippo they discovered he had been attacked, finding a number of wounds.Zoo administrators said Gustavito had attempted to defend himself, and was wounded in the mouth, rendering him unable to eat.It also made it difficult to administer medicine.In the hippo’s enclosure investigators discovered ice picks, stones and steel bars.  Police are still searching for the attackers, and zoo personnel are not excluded from the investigation, Justice Minister Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde said.The motive for the attack remains unclear. Security measures for the zoo will be strengthened, Regalado said.Gustavito was one of the most beloved animals in the zoo, attracting thousands of visitors. The Ministry of Culture said it would no longer purchase large exotic animals, but would instead dedicate itself to the protection on indigenous fauna.