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The shocking moment hooligans throw a bottle at a giraffe’s head after breaking into the zoo is revealed as they plead guilty to a raid that also distressed cheetahs, tigers and penguins.
- WARNING: ANNOYING CONTENT
- Two hooligans left animals feeling ‘very distraught’ after breaking into Marwell Zoo
- Nathan Daniels cut the wire fence and Bradley Green carried out the attack
- Daniels, 21, pleaded guilty to damaging the penguin enclosure
- Green, 24, admitted to damaging an enclosure containing giraffes.
Two hooligans left animals at a popular zoo feeling “very distraught” after they broke in during a raid in which a bottle was thrown at a giraffe’s head, a court heard.
Nathan Daniels, 21, cut through the barbed wire fence at Marwell Zoo before he and his accomplice Bradley Green carried out the February 2021 attack.
Video footage posted to social media at the time of the robbery appeared to show a bottle thrown at a giraffe’s head. A tiger apparently encouraged to approach a fence was also filmed before being kicked and scared away.
Daniels pleaded guilty to damaging the penguin enclosure, while Green, 24, admitted to damaging an enclosure containing giraffes.
Nathan Daniels, 21, (left) cut through the barbed wire fence at Marwell Zoo before he and his accomplice Bradley Green (right) carried out the February 2021 attack.
Video footage posted to social media at the time of the robbery appeared to show a bottle thrown at a giraffe’s head.
Basingstoke Magistrates Court heard that according to zookeepers near Eastleigh, Hampshire, many of the animals were left “very distressed” by the nightly raid, particularly giraffes, cheetahs and tigers.
Several police units, including armed response officers with night vision goggles, a dog unit and a helicopter were dispatched to catch the trespassers after the incident, amid fears the endangered animals were in danger.
Earlier, the court heard that the gang had broken through a ‘double chain link fence’ before the hooligans entered.
In the indictment, David Fosler told magistrates: “The general manager of zoo maintenance discovered that an internal fence had been cut in a vertical line.
Fosler noted that the barbed wire fence had also been cut and several animal enclosures were interfered with.
“Zoo keepers say the animals were very distressed, particularly the giraffes, cheetahs and tigers,” he explained.
Video footage posted to social media at the time of the incident at Marwell Zoo near Eastleigh, Hants, appeared to show a bottle thrown at a giraffe’s head.
A tiger apparently encouraged to approach a fence was also filmed before being kicked and scared away.
Many of the animals were left “very distressed” by the night raid, particularly giraffes, cheetahs and tigers.
Daniels and Green admitted to the charges when they appeared at Winchester Crown Court. Green has also admitted to causing animal cruelty.
However, theft and criminal damage charges against friends Jason Huggitt, 24, and Coral Lock, 23, accused of aiding criminals, have been dropped.
Daniels and Green, both from Fareham, were released on unconditional bail until they appear again at Winchester Crown Court for their sentencing in January.
Judge Andrew Barnett warned the couple that if they did not attend, they would be committing another criminal offence.
Marwell Zoo opened in 1972 and has proven to be a popular family destination ever since. It has been home to giraffes and tigers ever since and is currently home to four giraffes and two tigers.
Its Humboldt penguin colony recently lost ‘several’ birds after an outbreak of bird flu, but visitors can still enjoy seeing other endangered species such as southern white rhino, Amur leopards, giant anteaters and pygmy hippos.