A mother jaguar and her cub have attacked flamingos in a Brazilian bird park and killed 172 out of 176 of them.

The jaguar attack took place in the Parque das Aves, a sanctuary and shelter for birds situated in Foz do Iguacu, a city on the border of the Iguacu Falls in the Brazilian state of Parana, at around midnight on 9th November.

Following the attack, Parque das Aves staff confirmed that only four of the 176 flamingos survived. Some of them were mauled by the jaguars while others reportedly died of stress.

A video shows the moment the jaguars enter the space where the flamingos were being kept.

According to members of the ‘Jaguars of Iguacu Project’, the predators were a mother and her cub, and the adult jaguar was teaching her little one how to hunt.

The jaguars jumped a fence and invaded the enclosure of the Chilean and African flamingos in the neighbouring bird park.

The two jaguars are among 28 monitored in the Iguacu National Park, located next to the bird park. The mother, tracked since 2018, had her first cub this year.

Yara Barros, researcher at the Jaguars of Iguacu Project, said: “At the beginning of the year, this jaguar reached maturity and, in this attack on the flamingo enclosure, she was teaching her cub how to hunt. It is a natural process for a predatory carnivore.

“Cubs accompany their mothers for two years until they can manage on their own.

“The National Park has been here for 80 years and there is no record of jaguars ever attacking humans. They hide and people don’t need to worry because their refuge and shelter is the forest.”

Parque das Aves, located next to the Iguacu National Park was opened 27 years ago and had never registered a jaguar attack before.

Parque das Aves director Luciana Leite said the team is investigating the flamingos’ deaths, adding: “Our veterinary team is carrying out the autopsies, investigating what caused their deaths.

“It is very common for birds to suffer capture myopathy. In the face of a situation of severe stress, these birds will often die without even being directly attacked.”

According to the director, only autopsies will show how many birds died of direct interaction with the jaguars and how many died of myopathy.

The bird park is investigating the attack and will be closed to visitors until 12th November.