A University of Southern Mississippi student is facing criminal charges after a poorly-conceived fraternity prank killed a female flamingo and her mate.

According to WTVA, 19-year-old Devin Nottis was supposed to get a picture of a flamingo for a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity scavenger hunt. Instead, he apparently decided to steal a flamingo from the Hattiesburg Zoo in lieu of the photo.

Police say Nottis caught on surveillance video entering the zoo with three other people at 1 am Tuesday. It's not clear if the actual theft was filmed, but the Humane Society is offering a reward in an effort to identify the other flamingo-killers.

The flamingo was eventually returned to the zoo with life-threatening injuries and had to be euthanized. The zoo says shortly thereafter, the stolen flamingo's mate began "acting depressed" and eventually died from trauma related to the theft.

Nottis was suspended from school and is facing grand larceny charges. The fraternity of flamingo killers' charter was also suspended indefinitely.

[h/t UPI, image via Shutterstock]