Rhino flees Ramat Gan zoo… again

A rhino escaped from the Ramat Gan Safari Sunday afternoon, but was caught several minutes later by zookeepers.

A statement from Tel Aviv suburb’s zoo said Tibor, an eight-and-a-half-year-old white rhinoceros, “seemed a bit distraught” as he bounded toward the safari’s exit gate.

But a video clip released by the safari shows the rhino leisurely exiting the gate, followed several seconds later by a frantic keeper.

Catching the fugitive rhino was no small task. Tibor weighs a mere 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) and can reach a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour (24 mph).

Tibor wasn’t the first rhino to escape the confines of the Ramat Gan Safari in recent years.

In January 2015, three rhinoceroses spent a few minutes on the outside after slipping through a side gate of the safari.

The trio, named Rihanna, Keren Peles and Karnivala, plodded into the street, where they were spotted by astonished joggers out for a morning run, the Hebrew-language Ynet news site reported.

The safari explained at the time that a keeper had dozed off for a few minutes and the three seized the opportunity to make a run for it.

The director of the safari, Yehuda Bar, saved the day by leading the beasts back to safety.