Hippopotamus fatally attacks Ranchi’s Birsa zoo caretaker, probe ordered

Santosh Kumar Mahto, a 54-year-old caretaker, died on Sunday after he was injured in an attack by a hippopotamus at a zoo in Ranchi.

The incident took place at Ranchi's Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park.

Mahto had entered the enclosure of the hippopotamus on Friday, allegedly to shift a newborn calf. The mother hippopotamus attacked Mahto and injured him critically, reported PTI quoting zoo official.

An investigation has been launched into the incident.

"Unfortunately, the caretaker succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning at a private hospital ," the director of the zoo, Jabbar Singh, told PTI.

Singh added that the zoo authority would send a proposal to the state government to provide an ex gratia of ₹20 lakh as Mahto was on duty on Friday.

Mahto will also get ₹4 lakh compensation as per the norms due to death by wild animal attack.

Singh said that the zoo authority took care of the hospital cost, adding, "We will also try to get a job for a member of his family.

However, after the incident, caretakers of the zoo shut down its main gate in protest against the zoo authority, reported PTI.

Around 112 caretakers, including casual and permanent, are employed in the zoo.

In December 2023, an employee at Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden in Lucknow died after he was attacked by a hippopotamus while cleaning its enclosure.

The hippopotamus attacked the employee, leaving him seriously injured. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

In March 2023, the curator of a zoo in Gujarat's Vadodara city and its security supervisor suffered serious injuries after a hippopotamus attacked them in an enclosure.

According to reports, the Vadodara zoo is home to female hippopotamus Dimpy and its offspring Mangal. In the past, Dimpy had attacked and killed her male mate.