A rhinoceros at a zoo near Paris was shot three times in the head on Monday night by poachers who then cut off its horn with a chainsaw. 
 
 The four-year-old rhinoceros, named Vince, was found dead by keepers at Thoiry Zoo, to the west of the French capital. 
 
 One or more poachers are believed to have broken in to the zoo and forced their way into an enclosure where three rhinos lived, reported Le Parisien. 
 
 The white rhinoceros's second horn had also been partially hacked off, indicating the perpetrators had run out of time or their equipment had failed. 
 
 They may have also planned to steal the horns of the two other white rhinos, five-year-old Bruno and 37-year-old Gracie. Both animals are said to be safe and healthy. 
 
 Vince was born on in September 2012 at Burgers' Zoo in the Netherlands. He arrived in Paris in March 2015 with Bruno. 
 
 Rhinoceros horns can be sold on the black market for around £30,000 each and are particularly sought after in China, where they are believed to have aphrodisiac qualities. 
 
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 This is thought to be the first time in Europe a live animal living in captivity has been killed by poachers. The theft of ivory horns usually takes place at auction houses or other exhibitions. 
 
 An enquiry has been launched into Vince's death but it is not yet known what kind of gun was used to kill him. 
 
 A Facebook post published by the zoo said the staff were all shocked by the events, particularly Vince's keeper who had become very attached to him. 
 
 The attack took place despite security cameras and five members of zoo staff living on the site. 
 
 The white rhinoceros is the second largest land mammal after the elephant. The species was once on the brink of extinction but there are now around 20,000 in the world, despite the continued threat of poaching. ||||| Poachers broke into a French zoo and fatally shot a rhinoceros before using a chain saw to remove its horn, authorities said Tuesday. 
 
 The culprits entered the Thoiry Zoo and shot a rhino named Vince three times in the head, the attraction's director Thierry Duguet told The Associated Press. 
 
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 Zookeepers discovered the five-year-old's carcass in the rhinoceros' enclosure. 
 
 Duguet said police were investigating and confirmed that no arrests had been made by Tuesday. 
 
 African rhinos are under increasing threat from poachers because of the illegal trade in their horns. Demand is driven by the use of rhino horns in traditional Asian medicine — they are said to cure everything from hangovers to cancer and is even believed to have aphrodisiac powers. 
 
 A rhino horn can reportedly fetch up to $42,000 on the black market. 
 
 The demand has led to a huge spike in poaching. In South Africa, the number of rhinos poached jumped from 13 in 2007 to 1,215 in 2014, according to the World Wildlife Fund. 
 
 The Thoiry Zoo is located around 30 miles outside of Paris. It is renowned for its safari park that can only be accessed from inside a car. ||||| This undated photo provided Tuesday March 7, 2017 by the Thoiry zoo shows the rhinoceros Vince, center, at the zoo, west of Paris. A zoo director says a five-year-old Rhinoceros living in the wildlife... (Associated Press) 
 
 This undated photo provided Tuesday March 7, 2017 by the Thoiry zoo shows the rhinoceros Vince, center, at the zoo, west of Paris. A zoo director says a five-year-old Rhinoceros living in the wildlife park he runs near Paris has been shot three times in the head by poachers who stole its ivory horn.... (Associated Press) 
 
 This undated photo provided Tuesday March 7, 2017 by the Thoiry zoo shows the rhinoceros Vince, center, at the zoo, west of Paris. A zoo director says a five-year-old Rhinoceros living in the wildlife park he runs near Paris has been shot three times in the head by poachers who stole its ivory horn.... (Associated Press) This undated photo provided Tuesday March 7, 2017 by the Thoiry zoo shows the rhinoceros Vince, center, at the zoo, west of Paris. A zoo director says a five-year-old Rhinoceros living in the wildlife... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARIS (AP) — A zoo director says a 5-year-old rhinoceros at the wildlife park he runs near Paris has been shot three times in the head by poachers who stole the animal's ivory horn. 
 
 Thierry Duguet told The Associated Press that poachers broke into the Thoiry Zoo overnight and used a chain saw to remove the horn from the rhino named Vince. Zookeepers discovered his carcass Tuesday in the rhinoceros' enclosure. 
 
 Duguet says police are investigating and the suspects still are at large. 
 
 The Thoiry Zoo is famous for its safari park that can only be explored from inside a vehicle. 
 
 According to Le Parisien newspaper, a rhinoceros horn can be sold for up to 40,000 euros on the black market because of a strong demand linked to the belief that the horns have aphrodisiac powers.
– In what authorities say is a brazen first, poachers busted into an EU zoo and attacked a live animal. NBC News reports on the slaying of Vince, a rhinoceros who was found dead in his enclosure Tuesday morning by his keepers after perps broke into France's Thoiry Zoo overnight, put three bullets into the animal's head, then chainsawed his horn off, presumably to sell on the black market, the zoo's director tells the AP. Vince was a 4-year-old African rhino, a species that's seen a record decline in numbers of late due to poachers, per the World Wildlife Fund. Hacking marks on Vince's second horn suggest the suspect or suspects tried to cut off that one as well; they may not have had time to finish the job, or the tools they were using may not have worked on that horn. The Independent reports that rhino horns can command more than $35,000 when sold underground. "The whole staff is extremely shocked," the zoo wrote in a Tuesday morning Facebook post, which adds that the other two rhinos in the enclosure, 37-year-old Gracie and 5-year-old Bruno, "escaped the massacre." (One of the world's last "big tusker" elephants was killed this week.)