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Rhino at England's Whipsnade Zoo Leaves Zookeeper Seriously Injured

A zookeeper was left with serious injuries Wednesday after what officials described as "an incident with a rhino."
Image: Rhinos at the Whipsnade Zoo in 2013
A young rhino stands with its mother in an enclosure at Whipsnade Zoo in 2013.ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP - Getty Images file

A zookeeper was left with serious injuries Wednesday after what officials described as "an incident with a rhino." The victim was cornered by the two-ton animal inside the Asian rhino enclosure at the Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England, according to a spokesman for medical charity Magpas — which dispatched an air ambulance to the scene. The confrontation left the zookeeper with serious injuries to his chest, abdomen and pelvis and ended with him becoming almost completely immersed in water. Authorities declined to elaborate further.

Colleagues found the zookeeper in the water at around 8:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET). The victim, who is aged in his 50s, was listed in "serious but stable condition" at a hospital in Cambridge, England.

Image: Rhinos at the Whipsnade Zoo in 2013
A young rhino stands with its mother in an enclosure at Whipsnade Zoo in 2013.ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP - Getty Images file

In-Depth

- Alexander Smith