“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
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate solutions
Switzerland turns train tracks into solar power plants
In Switzerland more people are being referred to electrical therapies or psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Are there similar approaches where you live?
Swiss parliament advances individual taxation for married couples
This content was published on
The Swiss House of Representatives made progress on individual taxation for married couples, suggesting a compromise to address federal tax losses.
Valcambi withdraws from Swiss Better Gold Association
This content was published on
The Swiss refinery said it's no longer appropriate to collaborate with the organisation, which aims to improve working and living conditions in mining communities.
This content was published on
The Swiss House of Representatives voted against a motion to introduce specific regulations for AI-generated “deepfakes.”
Swiss foreign ministry alarmed by Gaza developments
This content was published on
The Swiss foreign ministry wrote on X that international humanitarian law forbids the annexation of occupied territories.
Swiss government warns some EU agreements could be rejected by parliament or electorate
This content was published on
The EU sees the agreements with Switzerland as a single package, but the Federal Council believes that one or more agreements could be rejected.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.