9-Year-Old Girl Killed After Zoo Elephant Picks Up And Hurls Rock

A seven-year-old girl has been killed at Rabat Zoo in Morocco after an elephant threw a rock from its enclosure, striking her on the head.

The girl had been posing for a picture with her family when the elephant lifted the rock with its trunk and threw it across the the ditch separating the animal’s enclosure from visitors.
The girl was taken to hospital, where she died after several hours. A spokesperson for the zoo offered condolences, but would not accept culpability for the incident. “Accidents of this type are rare, unforeseeable and unusual,” he said in a statement, reports Morocco World News.

“Accidents of this nature have happened in international zoos, most recently in Disney World Orlando and the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.”
Footage has been uploaded to YouTube of the elephant and the girl after the incident. Not much is show, but some viewers may find it disturbing.
Phyllis Lee, Scientific Director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, told the BBC that it was unusual for an elephant to throw a stone in a targeted manner. 
“It can happen when elephants are frustrated or bored. In my opinion, it’s unlikely the elephant was directly targeting the girl – but exhibiting frustration. You can’t predict what animals in captivity will do.”

Source: BBC.
Photo: Supplied.

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