LAHORE, April 9: Two stray dogs have killed 28 caged peacocks in the `well-guarded’ Lahore Zoo. The zoo administration has quietly removed the dead birds and repaired the broken cage.

Zoo director Yousaf Pal told Dawn on Monday that early on Sunday morning the two dogs had sneaked into the zoo and entered the peacock cage, and killed the birds. He said the dogs had entered the cage through a broken portion of the fence.

According to Mr Pal, the watchman of the cages had gone to offer Fajr prayers when the dogs sneaked in. “When he came back half an hour later, he found the dogs were killing the peacocks. By the time he managed to get the dogs out of the cage, they had killed 28 peacocks.”

The director said the watchman had been suspended and asked to deposit Rs66,500.Mr Pal said that all birds were four to five years old. Eighteen of them were of common variety, while nine were of black shoulder and one white.