The man accused of killing Pinky, a well-known and beloved flamingo at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, was hit by a truck and died before his trial on charges related to the bird’s death.
Joseph Corrao, 48, was hit by the truck in Orlando. A crash report said he was walking across State Road 50 shortly before 6 a.m. when a Ford F-150 pickup struck him.
He was two months away from an animal cruelty trial stemming from Pinky’s death. Corrao allegedly grabbed the Chilean flamingo from its pen and slammed it on the ground, forcing zoo staff to euthanize her because of the severity of the injuries.
Pinky, who was born at the park in 1996, was a fixture at Busch Gardens in Tampa, where she was known for entertaining guests with her dancing.
“Pinky loved to dance for our guests,” park spokeswoman Karen Varga-Sinka told NBC6 at the time of her death. “Her keepers say that this is not a trained behavior, but a natural behavior she loved to show off.
“Flamingos are filter feeders, using their beaks to strain tasty morsels out of the water around them as they wade. To stir up the tastiest treats, flamingos will stamp their webbed feet. Pinky often performed this toe-tapping behavior out of the water for guests,” Varga-Singa explained.
Corrao told police that he didn’t mean to hurt Pinky and was just showing her off to his daughter. He spent four days in jail on felony animal cruelty charge before being released on $2,000 bond.
In addition to her tap-dancing abilities, Pinky was an “ambassador animal,” appearing on behalf of Busch Garden’s conservation and education initiatives.
“She will be sorely missed,” Varga-Sinka said.
