LAKE MARY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A toddler who stumbled into a rhinoceros enclosure at a Florida Zoo has been released from the hospital. is suspending exhibits offering "premium" animal experiences while zoo officials review safety protocol.
The 2-year-old girl was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children following the incident on New Year's Day at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne. Authorities said she fell through steel poles separating the rhinos and spectators.
The zoo announced the suspension of the Rhino Encounters exhibit and similar displays the following day.
Officials at the zoo on Florida's Space Coast say a rhino's snout touched the girl before she was retrieved in a matter of seconds from the exhibit.