A group of three children has beaten a flamingo to death and badly injured another at a Czech zoo after pelting them with rocks.

The boys aged five, six and eight attacked a flock of American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) at Jihlava Zoo in the town in the Czech Republic's south-central Vysocina Region last Friday.

"I was appalled by the brutal attack," Elizabeth Kubikova, the zoo's director, said on Sunday.

The boys were said to have climbed over a fence to reach the birds before pelting them with rocks.

The children were kicking two of the flamingos when an electrician interrupted them, one of the two birds died while the other sustained serious injuries.

The dead bird had been a survivor of the floods at Prague Zoo in 2002. He was 16 years old and father to eight babies. Flamingos tend to live to around 30-40.

The three boys fled the scene but CCTV footage led police back to them.

Martin Malac, the zoo spokesperson, told Czech media that the boys expressed no regret for what they had done.