An animal lover was trampled to death by an exotic animal that he cared for.
The owner of an exotic animal park in New York, was trampled to death by an antelope that escaped from its cage.
Hans Boxler, 81, was the owner of the Hidden Valley Animal Adventure in Varysburg.
Boxler was very much dedicated to his animals. He left a family party to go feed the animals around 8:30 p.m., police said.
However, when he did not return, his family went looking for the elderly
man, and they found him dead. They also found the antelope near its
cage with the door open.
An autopsy revealed that he died from blunt force trauma after while
being trampled by the antelope, according to the coroner’s office.
Boxler, who was a dairy farmer for more than 60 years, opened the
60-acre park in 2002. The park has more than 300 animals from 40 exotic
species.
Boxler’s park offers daily safari tours for people to view animals such as camels, zebras and wildebeest.
The park stayed open following his death. Staff members said that “this is what Boxler would have wanted.”
