A rhinoceros attacked a married couple working as zookeepers in Austria, killing the woman and seriously injuring the man as he attempted to save her, authorities have said.

The attack happened at the Hellbrunn zoo in the western city of Salzburg.

Zoo director Sabine Grebner told reporters on Tuesday that the 33-year-old woman, a German citizen from Bavaria, was assigned that day to put an insect repellent on the rhino’s body because they are very sensitive to insect bites.

The 30-year-old female rhino, Jeti, attacked the keeper, though it was not clear why, Austria’s APA news agency cited Ms Grebner as saying.

Salzburg police said that “the woman succumbed to her injuries at the scene of the accident”.

The other zookeeper, a 34-year-old Austrian citizen who was feeding other animals at the time, was also attacked and injured when he tried to chase the rhino away from his wife.

The woman suffered severe chest trauma in the attack and died in the enclosure while her husband has a fractured leg and was taken to the hospital, the APA news agency reported.

The names of the two zookeepers were not released in line with Austrian privacy rules.

The man, a trained animal keeper, has worked at the zoo since 2008, and his wife, a certified animal keeper, since 2014.

Previously, she was employed in Munich, Ms Grebner said.

The zoo director said she was known to be “very careful and thoughtful with the animals, and she had an extremely good sense” when dealing with them.

Ms Grebner said the exact circumstances of how the accident occurred have yet to be determined.

“We don’t know what exactly happened,” she said. “We are deeply upset and shocked.”

All safety regulations would be re-evaluated, she said, adding that there had been no previous incidents at the rhino enclosure, which was set up nearly 30 years ago.

The zoo will remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.