Attack on rhinoceros in Paris puts zoo security in spotlight


              View of the entrance of the Thoiry Zoo, near Paris, France, Wednesday, March 8, 2017, where a rhinoceros named Vince was killed and one of it's horns removed using a chain saw. A zoo director says a 5-year-old rhinoceros at the wildlife park he runs near Paris, had been shot three times in the head by assailants who stole the animal's horn, it's carcass being found Tuesday. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
View of the entrance of the Thoiry Zoo, near Paris, France, Wednesday, March 8, 2017, where a rhinoceros named Vince was killed and one of it's horns removed using a chain saw. A zoo director says a 5-year-old rhinoceros at the wildlife park he runs near Paris, had been shot three times in the head by assailants who stole the animal's horn, it's carcass being found Tuesday. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

NEW YORK (AP) - The brazen killing of a rhinoceros at a wildlife park near Paris by assailants who removed a horn valued at nearly triple the price of gold has put zookeepers on notice that poaching could be spreading beyond the fields of Africa and Asia.

Experts say demand for the horns is skyrocketing in Asia. The horns are ground into a powder and used for medicinal purposes by some who believe it cures everything from cancer to hangovers.

Some estimate the horns could sell for as much as $3,000 an ounce.

Officials in France said Tuesday that the white rhinoceros was shot by poachers who broke into the zoo and used a chain saw to remove its horn. It's the first known attack of a rhino for its horns in a zoo.

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