Zebra dies after being speared by rhino in tragic zoo incident

A zebra at Colchester Zoo has died after an “incident” with a rhino left it with a punctured stomach.

The unfortunate accident at the Essex zoo left a male zebra dead after a female rhinoceros unintentionally punctured its stomach on Friday (10 January).

Over the weekend, Colchester Zoo confirmed a zebra had died following an “extremely rare” incident that took place in a mixed-species enclosure.

The zoo’s Kingdom of the Wild enclosure houses a mix of African animals and birds including cranes, ostrich, kudu, giraffe, rhinos and zebra. Now, the zoo has elaborated on what unfolded there on Friday.

In an update, the zoo explained that a female rhino, Astrid, was sparring with her son, Tayo, inside the enclosure at the time.

Astrid had been attempting to move the male zebra, named Ziggy, out of the way and accidentally punctured his stomach with her horn. He died within minutes.

iStock

Colchester Zoo said in a statement: “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.

“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.”

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