Horrifying moment man lifts boy inside a RHINO enclosure for a picture at Dublin Zoo
Youngster was standing just metres away from one of the enormous animals
A “STUPID” zoo visitor lifted a boy over the safety fence of an enclosure, so the child was stood just metres away from a RHINO.
The bizarre and terrifying moment happened in the African Plains area of Dublin Zoo in Ireland, and one horrified onlooker said the boy was over the fence for TWENTY MINUTES.
A stunned eyewitness has told how other zoo visitors were “horrified” at what they saw, and that the man was encouraging the boy to go further into the enclosure.
The onlooker told the : “It was such a stupid thing to do.
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“He was only metres away from the rhinos.
“People were totally horrified.
“The child was with a male relative who was getting him to pose for photos trying to make the child go further in.”
Twitter user Ciaran Ferrie tweeted a picture of the youngster standing on a rock inside the rhino enclosure.
Another photo taken from someone stood behind the adult accompanying the boy, shows the man holding the youngster’s hand as he stares in the direction of one of the animals.
Dublin Zoo is investigating what happened.
A spokesperson said: “The matter is being taken care of internally by Dublin Zoo.
“It’s completely against Dublin Zoo’s health and safety rules but is it being looked into at the moment.”
In May this year there was a divided public reaction to the shooting of Western lowland gorilla Harambe.
The animal was killed after youngster Isiah Gregg fell 15ft into his enclosure.
The boy had managed to climb through the fence while in the care of his mother and her partner.
The 400lb gorilla was seen dragging the youngster around before he was shot.