Photo Shows Couple Inches Away From Rhinoceros Just Moments Before They Are Gored

A 24-year-old woman has been seriously injured after a rhino gored her only moments after she posed for a photograph with the animal alongside her husband.

Chantal Beyer suffered injuries to her lungs, shoulder, and ribs after being attacked at the Aloe Ridge Hotel and Game Reserve, 40km from Johannesburg. Ms. Beyer, who is a student from West Rand, was traveling with a party of several other people when the incident occurred.

Beyer is believed to be in a serious, but stable, condition in hospital. The Daily Mail has reported that she was allegedly urged to stand closer to the rhino by a wildlife expert, Alex Richter.

Richter is rumored to have advised the group to get out of the vehicle to take photos of the rhino and then used food to entice the animals closer before recommending Beyer to stand closer to the beast just seconds before it then gored her from behind.

The Mail then added, “Just after the picture was taken a huge bull rhino attacked, and its horn penetrated Ms. Beyers’ chest from behind, resulting in a collapsed lung and broken ribs.”

Thom Peeters, Ms. Beyer’s Uncle and family spokesman, told the Beeld, “There were quite a few young people on the vehicle and they probably felt they could trust Richter, who was an adult.”

South Africa’s Aloe Ridge Hotel and Natural Reserve have yet to comment on the incident, but the resort’s website does state that visitors can see the rhinos “at close range.”

Would you have trusted your wildlife expert and exited the vehicle?