VIENNA (Reuters) – A rhinoceros crushed one zookeeper to death and injured another at Salzburg’s zoo on the outskirts of the Austrian city on Tuesday, zoo officials said.
The incident happened during the morning rounds in which the animals are fed and treated with insect repellent, Salzburg Hellbrunn Zoo director Sabine Grebner told a news conference.
“We do not know exactly how it happened,” Grebner said, adding that the female zookeeper who was killed had suffered chest injuries. The injured male zookeeper was rushed to hospital but his life is not in danger.
The female zookeeper, a German from the state of Bavaria, was very experienced and specialised in rhinos, while the male colleague was in charge of animal feed. The declared time of death was 7:04 a.m. (0504 GMT).
The rhino involved was a female called Yeti, Grebner said, adding that all the rhinos at the zoo have been there a long time and are cooperative with their keepers.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy, editing by Ed Osmond)
