A zebra has died after being attacked by a rhino in an enclosure they shared at a UK zoo.
Visitors including children are said to have watched in horror this afternoon at the confrontation between the two animals at Colchester Zoo in Essex.
Staff are also said to be “devastated” by the horror while efforts are being put towards calming other animals in the enclosure. The tragedy happened in an outside enclosure for mixed African species including zebras, rhinos, ostriches and giraffes which normally mix well together
Colchester Zoo issued a statement saying: “At approximately 2pm today (10th Jan) there was an incident in our mixed species African habitat between a rhino and our male zebra and sadly the zebra has died. At this time we are directing our resources to make sure the rest of the animals in the habitat are settled.
“These sorts of incidents are extremely rare and we will continue to monitor the situation over the next few days. We are devastated by this loss and thank you for your understanding and support at this time.”
Comments have since flooded in on the zoo’s Facebook page with many sending their thoughts to the keepers who had to deal with the incident. One user wrote: “What an awful thing to happen. I’m so sorry for all the staff at the zoo and hope you are all ok.” Another posted: “This must have been awful to witness and deal with I’m so sorry. Thinking of all the zoo keepers.”
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