SANTIAGO DE CUBA, February 19 (Luis Alberto Rivera, APLO) - Two men accused
of stealing and eating the local zoo’s ostrich were sentenced to 10 and 15
years in jail, the Communist Party’s weekly Sierra Maestra reported
recently.
The men, Rafael Barrientos Danger and Javier Botino Romero, are said to have
stolen the animal, a South American cousin of the ostrich known as ñandú,
on March 13, 1998. The case had remained under investigation since then, and
only recently were the men brought to trial.
The government said the two ate part of the bird, valued at 3,000 dollars,
and sold the rest of the meat privately. In addition to their sentence, the men
were sentenced to pay for the animal. Presumably, Barrientos strangled the bird
and was later helped by Botino to carry it out of the zoo.
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