Three male teenagers have been arrested after deputies say they shot and killed wild peacocks in Riverview.
According to a release from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the boys admitted to hunting peacocks around the neighborhood with air rifles in the hopes of eating them.
The boys, who are not being identified due to their status as minors, said they never ate the birds.
They dropped them in a storm drain on the night of March 20 after being approached by an oncoming vehicle.
Investigators say the bird’s bodies were discovered on Wednesday near Windswept Avenue.
People reported seeing a group on bikes and another riding in the back of a black four-door Ford F-150 just before the peacocks were found dead.
“When teenagers decide to just come and shoot them, that’s not okay for several reasons,“ neighbor Esther Kirk said.
The teens are charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty.
