This is the terrifying moment a child stood just feet away from a rhino in Dublin Zoo.
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“It was such a stupid thing to do”, another zoo patron told the Irish Mirror.
“The child was with a male relative (it was thought at the time) who getting him to pose for photos trying to make the child go further in”. “You’d see them in a way that they’re imprisoned, truly imprisoned, which means they’re protected and people are protected”, Ron L. Kagan, executive director and chief executive officer of The Detroit Zoo, a leading institution for animal welfare, told The Dodo after Harambe’s death.
“Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult and parental supervision and responsibility is key”.
It is believed Roisin Brolly, 19, from Foreglen, Co Derry, had put her hand through the fence before the animal attacked her. “The child didn’t look scared and nobody really passed any heed on what he was doing”.
The photo emerged on social media over the weekend, showing the youngster standing on the wrong side of a fence and a man holding his hand from the other side.
Gillian Gird, from the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA), said rhinos were docile animals.
Ciaran Ferrie, an architect who photographed the incident, Tweeted the picture with the caption: “Just a child inside the Rhino enclosure at Dublin Zoo”. “They can sedate the animal with a dart gun but there’s always a chance that could end badly”.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said the incident was being reviewed internally.
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The terrifying incident comes months after Harambe, a gorilla at a U.S. zoo, was shot dead after he picked up a four-year-old child and dragged him through water after he had fallen into his enclosure.
