This photo of a young boy inside a rhino enclosure at Dublin Zoo in Ireland, just several metres from the rhino, has caused a stir among witnesses and people on social media.
In a report in The Irish Mirror, a terrified onlooker said a male relative lifted the boy into the pen at Dublin Zoo on Saturday, and forced him to move closer to the rhino. He was standing in the enclosure for at least 20 minutes. “It was such a stupid thing to do. He was only metres away from the rhinos. People were totally horrified,” the witness said.
Another told the Irish Daily Mail that the child didn’t look scared and nobody didn’t mind what he was doing.
Pictures of the boy, who has not been identified, were also posted to social media by concerned people. The photos show the youngster standing on large boulders which act as an additional barricade several metres above the ground.
Architect Ciaran Ferrie shared two pictures on Twitter, one of them showing an adult taking pictures of the young boy.
Another photo tweeted by Adrianna Straszewska showed the boy standing on the wrong side of the fence and a man holding his hand from the viewing side.
The boy was reportedly with three adults.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said the incident was being reviewed internally and that health and safety standards around the African Savanna enclosure for the zoo’s southern white rhinos are being examined.
Sources: Kidspot.com.au and Au.news.yahoo.com