Two-year-old hospitalized after stumbling into Florida zoo rhino exhibit

A two-year-old was hospitalized on Tuesday after stumbling into the rhino exhibit at a Florida zoo.

Brevard Zoo, located in Melbourne, Florida, said in a press release on New Year's Day that "a young guest entered the rhinoceros yard and was injured" during the zoo's hands-on Rhino Encounter with southern white rhinoceros. The participant area for the encounter is at ground level and the child fell through steel bars that separate participants and the animals.

The child's injuries were not specified and her condition is unknown.

The Brevard County Fire Rescue confirmed on Twitter that the child was flown to Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital in Orlando, about 57 miles away. The child's mother was ground transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center with a non-critical injury to the arm and has been released.

According to the press release, witnesses saw the child stumble into the exhibit. The snout, the area below the horn, of at least one of the animals "made contact with the child." A statement from the zoo said the child was "retrieved in a matter of seconds." The rhinos welfare was never compromised and the zoo said the rhino "will not be 'punished' in any way."

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The facility said that there have been no incidents in the daily rhino experience since the zoo began offering it in 2009.

Keith Winsten, the zoo's executive director, said in the release that the facility is suspending the experience until a thorough review is conducted. The zoo also said it is "actively participating in a standard investigation conducted by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission."

"Our number one concern is the safety and welfare of our guests and our hearts go out to the family," Winsten said. "Safety has always been of paramount importance to us and we are suspending these encounters until we have thoroughly reviewed our processes and procedures to ensure this cannot happen again."

Southern white rhinoceros, an endangered species, grow to be between 5 and 6 feet long and weigh between two and four tons. The zoo is home to four rhinoceros.

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