Killer rhino Astrid, who punctured Ziggy the Zebra’s stomach, had a calf with Otto – who died tragically young at the age of 27 due to a complication during a surgery
It isn’t the first tragedy linked to Astrid the rhino (Image: Colchester Zoo / SWNS.com)
The rhino that killed a “much-loved” zebra in a mixed species enclosure didn’t mean it, zoo staff say. Ziggy the zebra died after suffering catastrophic injuries when Astrid “unintentionally” punctured its stomach.
Regulars at Colchester Zoo were devastated by the death of their beloved black-and-white striped African equine friend. Female rhino Astrid had been sparring with her son Tayo when she attempted to move Ziggy out of the way last Friday.
The catastrophic injuries killed the zebra in “minutes”, the zoo said in a statement. Colchester Zoo wrote: “On Friday January 10, male zebra, Ziggy, sadly passed away following an incident in our mixed species African habitat.
Ziggy the Zebra died within minutes of the incident(Image: Colchester Zoo)
“Ziggy had lived happily with the other species, including the rhino, in this habitat since November 2017 when he arrived. On Friday, two of the rhinos, Astrid and her son Tayo, were sparring with one another, which is a regular and natural behaviour for this species.
“On this occasion, unfortunately Astrid attempted to move Ziggy out of the way and in doing so unintentionally punctured his stomach and he died of these injuries a few minutes later. In the light of these rare events, we review our care for the animals to minimise the risk of these incidents reoccurring.
“As a result, the animal care team will continue to closely monitor the animals’ behaviour in the coming weeks. These sorts of incidents are extremely rare and we are devastated by this loss, Ziggy was a much-loved animal who will be dearly missed.
Otto died last year at the age of 27 (stock)(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
“We would really like to thank our supporters for the well wishes at this difficult time and thank our fantastic animal care team who dealt with this very difficult situation extremely professionally.”
It isn’t the first death linked to Astrid, as the father of her most recent calf – Dara – died prematurely following a complication during a surgery. Otto, who was 27 at the time of his death, first arrived at Colchester Zoo in 2009 from Knuthenborg Safari Park in Bandholm, Denmark.
During his 15 years at the zoo, Otto sired six calves and even spent a summer on loan to Woburn Safari Park in Milton Keynes on a mission to mate with female rhinos which proved unsuccessful.
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