At This Horrifying Festival, People Bash Pinatas Stuffed with Live Animals

In a small town called Citilcum on the Yucatan peninsula, residents revel in an annual animal bloodbath known as Kots Kaal Pato. Townspeople stuff animals into vibrant paper-mache statuettes to create living piñatas which they ruthlessly demolish. Even children giggle as they prowl the streets, hunting for iguanas and opossums doomed to fill their barbaric piñatas. Once residents seal the animals into their paper tombs, they hang them up in the town square.

You can probably guess what happens next...

Locals wrestle in line for their turn to pulverize the piñata and the living animals inside. Many animals die trapped inside their paper prisons as locals hack away at the swinging target. If an animal survives until the piñata finally bursts, people rush over to trample it with the fervor of children scrambling to collect a showering of candy. Sometimes the crowds even toss the animal around like they would a rubber ball.

Once all piñatas and animals lay lifeless and broken on the ground, residents fix their eyes on the day’s prize: a duck. The innocent bird is the main attraction at Kots Kaal Pato, which translates roughly to “dance of the strangled duck” or “strangle the duck.” They string the duck up from a makeshift wooden arch and compete to claim him. The first to grab the hanging duck and snap his neck wins. Afterward, the winner proves dominance by tearing the duck’s head off with bare hands. The blood splatters all over the eager, applauding audience.

A Vice Media writer who attended Kots Kaal Pato in person asked several residents about the purpose and origins of the event. No one had an answer.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Help stop this horrifying event for good. Mexican environmental authorities have already filed complaints against Kots Kaal Pato; make sure the Yucatan government takes action by filing a denuncia, or legal complaint, via email. Visit this page and download the instructions for formatting your complaint. When it’s ready, email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Together, we can end the barbaric dance of the strangled duck in Citilcum.