Poachers broke into a French zoo, shot dead a rare white rhinoceros and sawed off its horn in what is believed to be the first time in Europe that a rhino in captivity has been attacked and killed.
The four-year-old male white rhino called Vince was found dead in his enclosure by his keeper at the Thoiry zoo and wildlife park about 50 km (30 miles) west of Paris on Tuesday morning after an overnight break-in, the zoo said.
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The poachers broke through a gate at the wildlife park during the night and forced the metal door of the enclosure where the rhino lived, the zoo said.
The two other rhinos living at the park, 37-year-old Gracie and five-year-old Bruno, were unharmed. Vince's second horn was partially cut, leading the zoo to believe that the intruders were disturbed or their equipment failed.
