A much-loved hippopotamus called Gustavito has died after an unexplained attack over the weekend in the National Zoo of El Salvador,BBC News reports.
The police are trying to establish who entered the animal's enclosure at night and brutally assaulted him.
Gustavito, 15, and died from his injuries late on Sunday.
Officials have described it as a cowardly and inhumane attack on one of the most iconic animals at the city's zoo.
BBC Central America reporter said that in a country where murder has long lost the capacity to shock,the extreme animal cruelty that claimed Gustavito's life has angered and upset all of El Salvador.
Unknown assailants entered the national zoo in San Salvador over the weekend and subjected the hippo to a sustained beating with what appears to have been sharp weapons and blunt tools.
El Salvador has one of the highest murder rates in the world according to the United Nations
The following morning, the zookeepers noticed Gustavito acting strangely, and refusing to eat and unwilling to near out of the pool in his enclosure.
The zoo's veterinarians then found lacerations on the hippo's neck and face,and the animal clearly in remarkable distress.
His condition worsened on Sunday and he died late that night despite the efforts of the staff to save him.
The culture ministry in El Salvador has said an investigation is under way to find the attackers.
Meanwhile many Salvadorans have taken to social media to express their sadness and disgust at the case.
Many are calling for investigation into conditions at the zoo to determine how an attack of this nature could happen so easily, while on Twitter others have simply been posting: "Forgive us Gustavito".
Source: tert.am