“Although there was contact between the man and the rhino bull Puri, neither the man nor the animal was injured,” said a spokeswoman for the zoo.
German newspaper Die Oberbadische had reported on an incident on Monday at the zoo, Basel cantonal police confirmed on Friday. It involved a person “in a difficult life situation”, said the spokesperson. He did not want to reveal more for reasons of privacy.
Apparently, the man was no longer in the enclosure when the police arrived. The zoo spokesperson went on to say that the zookeeper who had been called had been able to persuade the man to come to him in the safe area. The zoo and the police gave no details of the man’s motive.
In 1990 a visitor’s excursion into the rhino enclosure ended fatally. A 29-year-old woman had climbed into the rhino enclosure to stroke a young animal. A mother rhino felt threatened and attacked the woman.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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