Zoo blames ‘abnormal’ elephant for death of seven-year-old girl

EXPERTS at a zoo in the Moroccan capital of Rabat are trying to understand why an elephant hurled a stone, killing a seven-year-old girl.

EXPERTS at a zoo in the Moroccan capital of Rabat are trying to understand why an elephant hurled a stone in the air near visitors, killing a seven-year-old girl.

The behaviour of the female elephant was “abnormal” and needs to be understood, a veterinarian at the zoo said on Friday.

A girl has died after an elephant hurled a rock in a zoo in Morocco. Picture: Youtube.

The girl was visiting the Zoological Garden of Rabat with her family on Tuesday, admiring three elephants when one picked up a stone, then tossed it more than 10 meters (yards) over a huge ditch and a wooden barrier toward the visitors.

The girl was struck in the head and died hours later.

Footage taken by a bystander on a mobile phone showed the large rock on the floor. Picture: Youtube.

The elephant exhibit has been temporarily closed, zoo veterinarian Abderahim Salhi said by telephone.

He said that zoo personnel remained in shock three days later at what he called an “unforeseeable accident.”

Mr Salhi said that “the behaviour of any animal is very complex and wild animals are unpredictable.”

The heartbreaking video shows the girl lying on the ground after being struck in the head by the large stone. Picture: Youtube.

Zoo staff and witnesses gathered near the girl to try and save her but she later died in the hospital. Picture: Youtube.

“We are all surprised. We don’t yet understand,” Salhi said. The zoo, which opened in 2012 on the edge of Rabat, was designed to show animals living in replicas of their natural habitat — but with no direct contact with visitors, Salhi said. Stones are plentiful inside the elephant habitat, as they would be in their natural surroundings.

The elephant picked up the large stone in its trunk and threw it into the air, hitting her on the back of the head. Picture: Youtube.

“We are very sad at what happened, but it would be wrong to blame the elephant. This was not premeditated,” said Salma Slimani, in charge of zoo administration.