lAlthough they look cute and harmless from a distance, you should never forget that hippos are dangerous creatures. Sadly, if you're looking for an example, then there's been a recent one. A hippo recently mauled and killed a zookeeper during a grisly attack at an animal park. The 54-year-old zookeeper was savagely mauled.
The incident happened in India. According to The Indian Express, a hippo attacked Santosh Kumar Mahto at the Ranchi's Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park. The zookeeper made a fatal error in handling the animal. He went into the hippopotamus compound to get the animal's newborn calf. Animals are especially protective of their young. It's a survival instinct hardwired into their brains. There have been too many tragedies and horror stories of animals getting spooked and killing the unexpected person who got near their babies.
Well, unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. The hippo got protective of her young. Thinking she was protecting her baby, she attacked the zookeeper. Unfortunately, she seriously injured him. Ultimately, he passed away.
"Unfortunately, the caretaker succumbed to his injuries on Sunday at a private hospital here," zoo director Jabbar Singh told the outlet. "The zoo authority took care of the hospital cost."
Hippo Kills Zookeeper
The zoo is trying to help the family in other ways."We will also try to get a job for a member of his family," Singh added. However, the attack has caused discord among the workers at the zoo. The other 112 zookeepers shut down the park's main gate in protest. We're not sure exactly what they were protesting, but I suspect that it's safer work conditions.
The hippo ended up crushing Mahto's limbs among other injuries. It's not the first attack either. In December, another zookeeper at another Indian zoo died during an attack. That attack ended in tragedy as well. The 40-year-old zookeeper at Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden in Uttar Pradesh was cleaning the animal's enclosure. That's when it attacked him.
It had been locked away, but the animal managed to break free from its restraints. The anima attacked and killed the 40-year-old. It also injured another worker as well. Remember, these animals are dangerous.
