Heartbreaking photos show Hippo crying in pain after falling from back of truck ferrying it to a Taiwan zoo, only to die later when bungling staff dropped it AGAIN after they rescued it

TAIWAN -- Heartbreaking video shows hippo crying in pain after falling from back of truck ferrying it to a Taiwan zoo, only to die later when bungling staff dropped it AGAIN after they rescued it.

Medics said that the hippo died from injuries sustained as a result of being dropped the second time while being moved to a temporary shelter in the botched rescue attempt in Taichung city, a special municipality located in western Taiwan.

The initial accident happened last Friday when the panicked hippo jumped from the truck in which it was being transported, breaking a leg.

 

   

  

 

Television footage showed the enormous animal lying on the road -- where it remained for several hours -- with white fluid oozing from its eyes.

Then, when the hippo was being taken back to the farm for treatment of its injuries, the cable on a hoist broke and its container crashed to the ground from a height of two metres (6.5 feet).

 

A spokesman for the Agricultural Bureau in the Taiwanese city of Taichung said: 'Sadly the 32-year-old animal died overnight as a result of his injuries.

'An autopsy showed that the internal damage caused a massive supply of toxins to be released into his blood resulting in death.'

Local police who had calls from locals about the animal said several people have reported a dinosaur on the road causing some confusion and suspicion that it was a hoax.

 

 

Chu Ching-cheng, deputy head of the Department of Animal Industry in Taiwan's Council of Agriculture, said the hippo's owner could face fines for animal abuse and be charged anywhere between £2,025 and £10,127 for losing the hippo in the first place and failing to secure him properly in the vehicle.

 'The city government has asked prosecutors to look into the case,' Chen Ming-hui, a local official, told AFP, adding that the ranch has been ordered to make a plan to improve the management of the rest of the animals there.

'The animal was not properly protected during the transportation process, leading to its injuries.

 

What's worse, it had not received due medical treatment the last two days,' said Chu Tseng-hung, the head of the non-profit Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan.

Ahe was a star attraction at its ranch and even appeared in a popular television soap opera several years ago.

(Daily Mail - Dec 29, 2014)