The 33-year-old from Bavaria, Germany, was carrying out daily duties at the rhino enclosure early on Tuesday morning when one of the animals attacked her.

Another employee, who is the husband of the 33-year-old, is seriously injured after trying to scare the rhino, named “Jeti” away during the attack. The 34-year-old man was taken to hospital.

During a press conference, zoo manager Sabine Grebner said that the woman zookeeper had been assigned the task of putting insect repellent on the rhinos because the animals are senstive to insect bites. 

“For reasons still unknown, a rhino attacked a 33-year-old woman zookeeper”, who succumbed to her injuries on the spot, authorities said.

The attack, in which the keeper was probably trampled to death, happened shortly before 7am, according to the Austrian news agency APA.

The 30-year-old animal is said to weigh 1.8 tons and has been in Salzburg since 2009.

Zoo manager Grebner also paid tribute to the zookeeper and said employees were in shock. 

“She was very careful and thoughtful with the animals, and she had an extremely good instinct with animals,” said Grebner.

It is unclear what will happen to the animal.    

The zoo will remain closed on Tuesday.

Situated in the gardens of the Hellbrunn Palace, the Salzburg Zoo houses 1,500 animals and attracts over 400,000 visitors per year.

According to WWF, rhinos are the largest land mammals after elephants.

They are usually non-aggressive, rarely attack other animals and avoid getting close to humans.

White rhinos tend to flee when threatened, while black rhinos tend to attack. According to the environmental organisation, some attacks are accidental – for example, when an animal is frightened by a movement.

With reporting by AFP