A 2-year-old child is doing well after falling into the rhino exhibit at the Brevard Zoo Tuesday, her father said in a statement.
Zoo officials said the girl entered the rhinoceros yard during a exhibit called the Rhino Encounter.
In the encounter, participants and the rhinoceroses are separated by steel poles. The encounter is described by the zoo as a hands-on, educational experience where visitors can brush the rhinos with two-foot-long brushes.
Zoo officials said the child stumbled and fell between two poles and made contact with a rhino’s snout.
Brevard County Fire Rescue said the child was flown as a trauma alert to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children for treatment.
Officials said the child’s mother hurt her arm while pulling the child out of the enclosure and was taken to the hospital.
“Yesterday was a trying day for our family. We’re thankful to everyone who has reached out with their concerns. Our daughter is in good care at Arnold Palmer Hospital and is doing well. My wife was also treated for her injury and has been released from the hospital. At this time, we ask for privacy as we focus on our daughter’s recovery,” the child’s father said in a statement.
The zoo will suspend the rhino encounter until measures can be taken to prevent a repeat of the incident, officials said.