Man sentenced in "pride" killing of ostrich

Ostriches stand in an enclosure at an ostrich farm in the village of Kozishche some 260 km (160 miles) from Minsk, in Belarus, February 3, 2007. A U.S. man was sentenced to five months in jail after he and a friend, acting on wounded pride, gunned down an ostrich that had kicked them as their female companions laughed, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. man was sentenced to five months in jail after he and a friend, acting on wounded pride, gunned down an ostrich that had kicked them as their female companions laughed, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

"This whole thing is about male pride," prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The powerful flightless bird, named Gaylord, kicked Timothy McKevitt, 19, and Jonathon Porter, 21, last October when they trespassed on an ostrich ranch south of San Francisco after a night of drinking, the paper cited attorneys as saying.

As the startled bird attacked, the women began to laugh, prosecutors said. McKevitt was kicked in the ribs and knocked over, while Porter suffered scrapes and bruises.

The two men returned with a rifle and shotgun seeking revenge, the Chronicle said. They fired at least seven shots at Gaylord, according to a police report.

McKevitt, free on bail, was ordered to turn himself in on November 3. Porter was sentenced in March to seven months in jail after pleading no contest in the ostrich killing, the paper reported.