Rhino shot dead at Paris zoo by poachers who cut horn off with chainsaw

By Sunita Patel-Carstairs, News Reporter
7 March 2017 (Sky News) – A rhino has been shot dead by poachers who broke into a zoo and sliced its horn off with a chainsaw. Four-year-old Vince was found dead by one of his keepers at Thoiry zoo, near Paris, on Tuesday morning. One or more attackers are believed to have broken into the zoo in the night. The rhino was shot three times in the head, French investigators said. Staff at the zoo are said to be “extremely shocked” and an investigation into the “massacre” is under way. Vince’s second horn was partially cut, which the zoo said suggested either his attackers were disturbed or their chainsaw stopped working. “This odious act was perpetrated despite the presence of five members of the zoological staff living on the spot and surveillance cameras,” the zoo wrote on its Facebook page.” […] France’s environment minister Segolene Royal said: “The killing of a rhinoceros at Thoiry is criminal. “It is time countries outlaw the trade in ivory and horn as I have done in France.” [more]