A zebra died after a female rhino unintentionally punctured his stomach, a zoo has said.
Colchester Zoo said the rhino called Astrid had been sparring with her son Tayo when she tried to move the zebra called Ziggy out of the way.
Ziggy died of his injuries within minutes on Friday, the zoo said.
Pictures online showed the rhino with what is believed to be blood on the top of its horn.
Keepers will continue to monitor the animals’ behaviour closely in the coming weeks.
In a statement, the zoo said that Ziggy “sadly passed away following an incident in our mixed species African habitat”.
“Ziggy had lived happily with the other species, including the rhino, in this habitat since November 2017 when he arrived,” the statement said.
“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.
“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.”
One person who claimed to have seen the ordeal said it was ‘awful to watch’.
