Indian Zookeeper Mauled to Death by Hippo While Trying to Feed its Calf

Hippopotamus
A Hippopotamus (For representational purposes). X

A 54-year-old caretaker at a zoo in India died on Sunday after being brutally mauled by an angry mother hippo, according to reports.

Santosh Kumar Mahto was attacked by the animal at Ranchi's Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park after he went into the hippopotamus compound to remove a newborn calf for feeding.

Mahto's Limbs were Crushed by the Hippo

As reported by the Times of India, Mahto, 54, sustained multiple injuries and was bleeding profusely after his limbs were crushed by Lily, a female hippo at the zoo, on July 25. He succumbed to his injuries three days later on Sunday, July 28.

Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park
Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park in Ranchi. X

"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."

Singh added that the zoo management has urged the government to provide employment as well as financial compensation to the victim's family. The horrifying incident angered the rest of the zoo's 112 caretakers, who shut down the park's main gates in protest to the authority, the Express said.

Tigress Killed Selfie-Seeking Youth at the Zoo in 2020

This is not the first time an animal attack has claimed a life at the zoo. In 2020, a man in his 30s was killed by a tigress after he fell into the animal's enclosure at the Birsa Zoo during an attempt to take a selfie, as reported by the Deccan Herald.

In December, a worker at another Indian zoo was attacked and killed by a hippo. At the time, a 40-year-old caretaker at the Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden in Uttar Pradesh went into the animal's compound to clean it and was fatally attacked.

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