On 10th January 2024, a male zebra called Ziggy was killed by a female rhino at Colchester Zoom in Essex, England. Astrid the rhino had been sparring with her son Tayo when she tried to move Ziggy out of the way, fatally perforating his stomach.
In a statement, the zoo said, “On Friday, two of the rhinos, Astrid and her son Tayo, were sparring with one another, which is a regular and natural behaviour for this species. On this occasion, unfortunately Astrid attempted to move Ziggy out of the way and in doing so unintentionally punctured his stomach and he died of these injuries a few minutes later.”
Both animals were kept captive at the zoo in the same enclosure (called Kingdom of the Wild by the zoo, and described as a mixed-species African habitat — even though it does not have any of the environmental conditions of any true African habitat), together with reticulated giraffes, ostriches, crowned cranes and a greater kudu. The zoo, which opened in 1963, has been keeping southern white rhinos captive since 1972, and in this mixed enclosure since 2001. Ziggy had been in this enclosure since November 2017.
Keeping any wild animal in captivity in zoos causes them suffering because, for the entirety of their life, they have a very restricted space to move, fewer stimuli, fewer choices, and an environment which is normally very different to the one their species evolved in. Part of the environment is any species the animals are forced to share an enclosure with. In the wild, this tragic death would have been unlikely as both animals would not have been forced to be in such proximity to each other. There are many reasons why zoos should be phased out, and accidental deaths like this one are just another one.
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