Man seriously injured in Whipsnade Zoo 'rhino incident'

19 November 2014 Last updated at 13:22

The man was immersed in water during the incident, the air ambulance said

A zookeeper has been taken to hospital after being found with serious injuries in an enclosure following an "incident involving a rhino".

The man, in his 50s, was taken to hospital from Whipsnade Zoo, in Bedfordshire, at about 09:30 GMT.

The keeper was found by colleagues in water at the zoo at about 08:15, a zoo spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for Magpas Helimedix Air Ambulance said the man had suffered "serious injuries".

Paramedics took measures to keep him warm as his body temperature had dropped considerably after being immersed in the water.

He was taken to Addenbrooks Hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

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Tiger Shot Dead After Killing Zookeeper

A tiger has been shot dead after killing a female zookeeper in Germany.

Police said the giant male cat, called Altai, appears to have walked through a gate which was not shut properly at Cologne Zoo.

It got into an adjacent storage building, and mauled the 43-year-old keeper, who later died of her wounds in hospital.

The zoo's director Theo Pagel told how he used a rifle to shoot the four-year-old Siberian tiger through the building's skylight before it could make its way to the visitor areas.

"Today is surely the most terrible day in my career. We have lost a keeper today who was attacked by our male tiger," he added.

"As it appears, it was a question of inadvertence. Out of respect for the family, we will not name the person.

"I was not at the zoo at the time, and I only came later and shot and killed the animal so that we could enter the enclosure and take a look.

"But the employee was already dead."

Police said it was unlikely that members of the public had witnessed the attack which happened at noon on Saturday.

Officers briefly cleared the area, but the zoo later reopened for visitors.

Cologne Zoo was founded in 1860, and is one of the oldest and best-known zoos in the country. It is home to some 10,000 animals from 700 species.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/tiger-kills-keeper-german-zoo-120829386.html

Zookeeper killed by wolves in Sweden - via D R Shoop

A female zookeeper died Sunday morning when she was attacked by wolves in an enclosure at the Kolmarden Zoo in Sweden.

The zookeeper was a longtime employee at the wildlife park and had worked with the group of wolves since they were born, the zoo said in a statement on its website.

The attack happened during a routine visit to the wolves' enclosure, designed to "maintain contact with the wolves."

The keeper, who was not identified, followed procedure and informed her colleagues before entering the enclosure.

"When the co-worker did not respond when called, her colleagues realized something was wrong and went to the wolves' area," the zoo statement said. "There they found her dead."

It's not known what preceded the attack.

Mats Olson, the zoo's chief executive, said the staff is "shocked" by the incident and an investigation is under way.

On its website, Kolmarden -- billed as Scandinavia's largest wildlife park, and located about 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) southwest of Stockholm -- touts visitors' ability to have "wild encounters" with its animals, including petting wolves. The statement Sunday said the particular enclosure involved in the attack "lies beyond the public areas of Kolmarden."

Mats Hoggren, the zoological chief, said all procedures at the zoo will be reviewed.


http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/17/world/europe/sweden-zookeeper-killed/index.html?iref=storysearch

'Grandpa' fights for Bulgarian zoo's survival

"Come babe, come to grandpa. Don't be afraid," Behcet Ali coos as he handfeeds two eight-month-old lion cubs at his tiny zoo in the sleepy northeastern Bulgarian town of Razgrad.

At 82, Bai (Granddad) Behcet, as he is known locally, is Bulgaria's oldest zookeeper, famous for raising over 15 lion cubs during his 33 years of work and the only one to be in full contact with the predators.

Bai Behcet's unwavering devotion to saving the little 52-year-old zoo, spread over only 2,000 square metres (about 21,000 square feet), earned him the title of honorary citizen of Razgrad in 2007.

His prime concern now are the two cubs -- one male and the other female -- of six-year-old lioness Raya, who already weigh over 50 kilos (110 pounds).

"I haven't named them yet. I call them 'babies' and they understand," the zookeeper says, patting them on their backs and rubbing them behind the ears under the attentive look of their mother in the adjoining enclosure.

"To become friends with animals, as with people, you need to have a knack, to show them that you love them."

"And if people sometimes do not respond in kind when you do them good, an animal always understands and returns kindness," Bai Behcet explains.

The cubs love an iron ball he brought for them to play, tackling it with their oversized paws.

But it is quickly forgotten when he lets Raya back into the enclosure and the cubs rub against her sides, purring.

The father killed Raya's first litter but she is a very caring mother, Bai Behcet says.

"She is jealous that I love them so much but sees that I do not harm them and would not hurt me," he says, while ordering to the trio to stand still for a photo shoot.

Bai Behcet, who used to work at the local veterinary clinic before coming to the zoo in 1979, has been clawed by lions as well as bears, which he also used to raise here, but says he has never feared his charges.

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