A hippopotamus left with broken teeth and tears streaming down its face after jumping out of a moving lorry was killed when bungling zoo staff dropped him on the ground a second time while trying to rescue him.

Ahe, a 32-year-old male hippopotamus, was hurt with a damaged leg and teeth but still alive after falling from the moving lorry which was ferrying him to a zoo in Taiwan.

But he died when zoo staff hitched the 1.8 tonne animal into a harness that could not carry his weight - and he was dropped him for a second time.

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Pain: Tears stream down the face of the injured male hippo after he fell off the back of a lorry on his way to a Taiwan zoo

Medics said that the hippo died from injuries sustained as a result of being dropped the second time while being moved to a temporary shelter in the botched rescue attempt in Taichung city, a special municipality located in western Taiwan.

The initial accident happened last Friday when the panicked hippo jumped from the truck in which it was being transported, breaking a leg.

Television footage showed the enormous animal lying on the road -- where it remained for several hours -- with white fluid oozing from its eyes.

Then, when the hippo was being taken back to the farm for treatment of its injuries, the cable on a hoist broke and its container crashed to the ground from a height of two metres (6.5 feet).

A spokesman for the Agricultural Bureau in the Taiwanese city of Taichung said: 'Sadly the 32-year-old animal died overnight as a result of his injuries.

'An autopsy showed that the internal damage caused a massive supply of toxins to be released into his blood resulting in death.'

Local police who had calls from locals about the animal said several people have reported a dinosaur on the road causing some confusion and suspicion that it was a hoax.

Injuries: Ahe, a 32-year-old male hippopotamus, was hurt with a damaged leg and broken teeth but still alive after jumping out of the moving lorry which was ferrying him to a zoo in Taiwan

The plucky hippopotamus struggles to his feet after falling for the first time as bemused bystanders watch on

Agony: After being dropped a second time the hippopotamus lay paralysed on the ground for hours until it finally died

Medics said that the hippopotamus died from injuries sustained as a result of being dropped the second time while being moved to a temporary shelter

Chu Ching-cheng, deputy head of the Department of Animal Industry in Taiwan's Council of Agriculture, said the hippo's owner could face fines for animal abuse and be charged anywhere between £2,025 and £10,127 for losing the hippo in the first place and failing to secure him properly in the vehicle.

'The city government has asked prosecutors to look into the case,' Chen Ming-hui, a local official, told AFP, adding that the ranch has been ordered to make a plan to improve the management of the rest of the animals there.

'The animal was not properly protected during the transportation process, leading to its injuries. What's worse, it had not received due medical treatment the last two days,' said Chu Tseng-hung, the head of the non-profit Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan.

Ahe was a star attraction at its ranch and even appeared in a popular television soap opera several years ago.

The hippopotamus's owner could face fines for animal abuse and be charged anywhere between £2,025 and £10,127 for losing the hippo in the first place and failing to secure him properly in the vehicle