Disaster struck at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where a wild animal massacred dozens of animals.
Officials say a wild fox managed to enter the zoo after closing on Sunday and kill 25 American flamingos and a Northern pintail duck. The fox killed roughly a third of the flamingo flock.
The birds were being kept in the zoo's 9,750-square-foot outdoor flamingo habitat when the fox attacked.
Staff arrived early Monday morning to find the dead birds and the fox still in the yard. The predator eventually escaped.
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In addition to those killed, three flamingos were injured and are being treated at the zoo's veterinary hospital.
The remaining flamingos were moved indoors to their barn and the ducks to a covered, secure outdoor space.
The flock originally had 74 flamingos.
"This is a heartbreaking loss for us and everyone who cares about our animals," Brandie Smith, the zoo's director, said in the statement. "The barrier we used passed inspection and is used by other accredited zoos across the country. Our focus now is on the well-being of the remaining flock and fortifying our habitats."
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The zoo said all animal exhibits are inspected multiple times a day as part of safety procedures. When the outdoor flamingo habitat was inspected at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, no areas of concern were observed, according to the zoo.
An inspection after the birds' death revealed a "new softball-sized hole in the heavy-duty metal mesh" that surrounds the exhibit.
In addition to reinforcing the mesh barrier, the zoo has installed live traps around the outdoor yard to catch any predators. Digital camera traps with infrared sensors triggered by movement have also been set up to photograph overnight activity.
This is the first time a predator has breached the exhibit, which opened to the public in the 1970s.
"Something like this has just — it's never occurred before," Smith told WAMU. "Now that we have one predator that has learned how to get through, we are double-meshing all of our enclosures, and we are also adding additional hot wire to serve as a deterrent."
The flamingo habitat has been closed to the public since 2017 while undergoing a major renovation. It's set to reopen later this year, WAMU reported.