Remember the ostrich that went loose in the middle of a private village in the Philippines? Sadly, one of the ostriches that escaped reportedly died due to the stress of going out amid COVID-19 lockdown. Yes, even animals are stressed amid the pandemic.

Sadly, the Jumanji ostrich dies

There's another unfortunate thing that happened in the middle of the health crisis today. The viral running ostrich that escaped from its home sadly dies of stress.

The news was brought out from local Philippines news outlets on Saturday, Aug. 8. Undersecretary Benny Antiporda, a spokesperson of the country's Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), shared the terrible news, saying that one of the ostriches that escaped, died due to alleged stress.

On Tuesday, Aug. 4, Tech Times reported about the viral video of a running ostrich in the middle of private subdivision in Quezon City, Philippines.

Based on the video, the ostrich was running past people and seemed to be chasing a speeding private car. At the back of him, a goat was also running to get past the ostrich.

On the same day, another viral video was leaked online, which shows a different ostrich also running to go out of a guard post in the village. That means two ostriches had escaped from their private owners on the same Tuesday afternoon.

Most netizens compared the ostriches running loose and the COVID-19 altogether, by calling it the '2020 Jumanji.'

NOW!!!! WHO’S THE ONE PLAYING JUMANJI HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES???!!!!! pic.twitter.com/vbRdyicieW — lj (@ljmiran13) August 4, 2020

An ostrich running around in QC while Zoo by Red Velvet is playing in the background pic.twitter.com/qLwxsEv3vv — Carl 애상 (@yermapologist) August 4, 2020

August: welcome to Jumanji https://t.co/BVeUdjSFs3 — andre, (@andrelagdameo) August 4, 2020

The video was first thought to be funny by netizens that watched it. However, animal experts said that the ostriches might be alarmed and stressed during that day they went out of their cages.

It turns out, experts were right. The first ostrich that went viral died, four days after the video was leaked. DENR Undersecretary first got the death confirmation from the private owner of the ostrich.

How the ostriches ended up in a village?

Aside from the funny edited videos of the escapee ostriches, most netizens ask whether having the ostriches as pets inside homes is legal and safe.

Jonathan Cruz, the owner of the ostrich, has a permit to transport the flightless birds from a province in Mindanao to Nueva Ecija. However, it was not said that the bird would be living in the middle of a private village in one of the busiest cities in the country.

"[This is ] to prove kung talagang namatay 'yung isa, una, pangalawa (first, if one ostrich really died and second), how did they end up in Mapayapa Village," Antiporda said.

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This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Jamie Pancho