File Photo: A Humboldt penguin Source: Richard Gray

GERMAN POLICE ARE investigating the death of a penguin at Dortmund Zoo, just weeks after a sea lion was also mysteriously found dead in its enclosure there.

The zoo had informed police that three Humboldt penguins had gone missing before later finding one of them “dead with injuries” in the flamingo enclosure.

The other two penguins remain missing, said police, adding that they were investigating if there had been a “theft of the penguins or whether there had been a violation of the animal welfare act”.

At the same time, officers have not ruled out the possibility that the birds simply escaped.

The penguins’ disappearances come just weeks after a sea lion was found dead in its enclosure.

“This is one in a series of similar incidents this year,” the zoo said in a statement.

Three pygmy marmosets – the world’s smallest monkeys – and two dwarf agoutis – a type of rodent – were stolen in August, the zoo said, adding that it had since installed round-the-clock security.

In early November, a 21-year-old sea lion was found dead with a zoo autopsy finding that it had been severely beaten in the head.

The zoo believes that an intruder beat the animal to death but police have ruled this out.

© – AFP, 2015

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