17-Oct-09 1:00 PM CST

Zoo Rhino Bites Hand of Employee Feeding It

A rhinoceros at the Pittsburgh Zoo smashed the tip of a keeper's thumb as she hand-fed it treats yesterday.

"Anybody that has a pet knows that any time you hand-feed an animal treats, occasionally you get little bites," said zoo CEO Dr. Barbara Baker. "It wasn't aggressive on the rhino's part."

Dr. Baker said the zoo wasn't releasing the name of the bitten employee and refused to say which of the zoo's two rhinos bit the hand that fed it.

"We're not disclosing that information. We don't want people to come and in any way disparage the rhino," Dr. Baker said.

The employee was taken to a local hospital but the injury was not believed to be serious.

"It's not an animal that carries a lot of infections or anything," Dr. Baker added.

The incident happened behind-the-scenes shortly after the zoo opened yesterday.

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