Malti, seen in a photo from August 2007, was in the enclosure when the zookeeper was knocked over. (Calgary Zoo)

A veteran trainer at the Calgary Zoo was taken to hospital Sunday after he was knocked over by a female elephant, leaving him with deep facial cuts.

The 48-year-old keeper was working in an enclosure at about 1:30 p.m., with visitors watching from the other side of a fence, when Swarna, an Asian elephant, pushed him from behind into a wall, zoo representatives said.

The keeper, whose name hasn't been released, protected himself by crouching in a corner until help arrived, Calgary paramedics said.

"It wasn't part of any sort of type of demonstration or interactive display. It was really just him sort of cleaning and he had his back turned, … and that is when he was bumped," zoo spokesman Graham Newton said Sunday.

Calgary's Emergency Medical Services said the keeper suffered cuts to his nose and eyes, various scrapes and minor chest injuries.

Swarna was in the enclosure with her sister, Maharani, and her nine-month-old calf, Malti, at the time, but zoo officials said they don't know whether Swarna became agitated or whether the bump was an accident.

"It's not the kind of thing that happens every day, but it's certainly not unheard of. In this particular case, this is a keeper with a lot of experience. He's been with us for many, many years," Newton said. "I would suspect it's not the first time that he was bumped or jostled."

The incident caps a difficult week for the zoo in which 40 stingrays mysteriously died. Zoo officials continue to probe the deaths, and they said three surviving stingrays are doing well.

Zookeepers are also keeping an eye on a baby western lowland gorilla, born on Thursday morning.