A rhino at a zoo in Austria attacked a married couple working as zookeepers Tuesday, killing the woman and seriously injuring the man.
The fatal attack happened at the Hellbrunn zoo in the western Austrian city of Salzburg. Zoo director, Sabine Grebner, told reporters later on Tuesday that the 33-year-old woman, a German citizen from Bavaria, was assigned that day to put an insect deterrent on the rhino. It was then that 30-year-old, 1.8-tonne female rhino, Jeti, attacked the keeper for "reasons still unknown", Austria's APA news agency cited Grebner as saying. Salzburg police said: "The woman succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the accident."
A White or Square-lipped Rhinocerous in a previous photo taken at the zoo (Christian Handl/imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock)The other zoo keeper, a 34-year-old Austrian citizen, was also attacked and injured when he tried to chase the rhino away from his wife. The woman suffered severe chest trauma because of the attack and died in the enclosure while her her husband had a fractured leg and was taken to the hospital, APA reported.
The names of the two zoo keepers were not given in line with Austrian privacy rules. The zoo director said the fatally injured keeper was known to be "very careful and thoughtful with the animals, and she had an extremely good sense" when dealing with them.
Grebner said the exact circumstances of how the accident occurred had yet to be determined. "We don't know what exactly happened," she said. "We are deeply upset and shocked." All safety regulations would get re-evaluated, she said, adding that there had been no previous incidents at the rhino enclosure which was set up nearly 30 years ago. The zoo will remain closed on Tuesday.
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Local media said the pair had started rubbing insect repellent on the animals in the enclosure as part of their morning care responsibilities. The creature then attacked the woman, causing fatal injuries to her chest area. The zoo claimed that someone had tried to resuscitate the keeper but that attempts were unsuccessful.
Police said: "The animal keeper, a German, was killed by a rhinoceros. The woman succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the accident. Another zookeeper rushed to his colleague's aid and tried to scare the rhino away, but was attacked by the animal and seriously injured himself." The man reportedly suffered a broken femur before being flown by helicopter to Salzburg University Hospital, where he is undergoing surgery but is said to be out of danger.
Police are currently checking surveillance cameras to investigate what triggered the attack. Grebner did not reveal what will happen with the Rhino but said they are evaluating all safety regulations.
The palace where the zoo is located in the gardens is also home to the famous gazebo from the 1960s film The Sound Of Music, and was used for both Maria and Georg's romantic love scene and the duet "Sixteen Going On Seventeen".
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