Skip to main content

Zoo Kills Gorilla To Protect Child


A special zoo response team on Saturday shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla that grabbed and dragged a 4-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla exhibit moat, the Cincinnati Zoo's director said.
Authorities said the boy, who fell about three metres, is expected to recover after being picked up out of the moat and dragged by the gorilla for about 10 minutes. He was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Zoo officials said he was alert when he was transported there.
Director Thane Maynard said the zoo's dangerous animal response team that practices for such incidents decided the boy was in "a life-threatening situation" and that they needed to put down the 180kg male gorilla named Harambe.
"They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life," Maynard said. "It could have been very bad."
Maynard said he hadn't talked with the boy's parents yet.
He said the gorilla didn't appear to be attacking the child, but he said it was "an extremely strong" animal in an agitated situation. He said tranquilising the gorilla wouldn't have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.
Maynard said it was the first time that the team had killed a zoo animal in such an emergency situation, and he called it "a very sad day" at the zoo. The lowland gorilla is an endangered species.
The incident was reported at around 16:00. The area around the gorilla exhibit was closed off on Saturday afternoon as zoo visitors reported hearing screaming.
Harambe came to Cincinnati in 2015 from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.
Hospital officials said they couldn't release any information on the child. Authorities hadn't released the child's name.
The zoo said on Saturday night the Gorilla World area would remain closed until further notice after earlier saying it would be open on Sunday. Maynard said the zoo believed the exhibit remains safe. They are still investigating, but zoo officials believe the boy crawled through a railing barrier, then fell into the moat.
The zoo prides itself for its work in protecting endangered species, and has been part of successful captive breeding efforts in recent years in the effort to save the endangered Sumatran rhino.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shipwreck Survivors Haunted B Cries of Kids

It was the cries of children - and the moment they decided they must save themselves - that haunt the survivors of a shipwreck that claimed hundreds of lives. Two Eritreans who arrived safely in Sicily told The Associated Press on Sunday how the sea kept seeping into their rickety fishing boat despite all efforts to bail the water out. Eventually, the sea prevailed. Between 400 and 550 on their smugglers' boat didn't make it, part of the estimated 700 migrants who perished in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days last week in the deadliest known tally in over a year, as calm weather and sunny skies increased smuggling crossings from Libya. "When the morning came, I saw how the children were crying and the women," Habtom Tekle, a 27-year-old Eritrean, told the AP through an interpreter. "At this point I only tried to pray. Everybody was trying to take the water out of boat." The rickety wooden boat without an engine was being towed by another smug...
Post a Comment
Read more

Michael Jackson's nephews suing Radar Online for saying the late post star molested them

Friday, July 29, 2016 Miles Abah at 9:21 AM Michael Jackson's nephews suing Radar Online for saying the late post star molested them Michael Jackson's nephews, Taj, TJ and Taryll Jackson, part of the 90s boy band popularly known as 3T, just slapped Radar Online with a $100 million libel lawsuit, after the online tabloid reported that Michael Jackson molested young boys and that his nephews were among the victims. Radar also claimed the nephews had been given extravagant gifts by their late uncle and other relatives in the know, to buy their silence and that one of them was even kidnapped to keep him from making a statement against Michael Jackson to police. The suit calls Radar's claims false and defamatory
Post a Comment
Read more

EGYPT AIRCRASH AIR HOSTESS ELDERLY GRANDMOTHER COLLAPSE DURING MEMORIAL SERVICE

The memorial service of 26-year-old air hostess Yara Hani Tawfik who died on the EgyptAir MS804 flight was held yesterday, May 21 at St. Mary and St Athanasius Church in Cairo. The victim's elderly grandmother Anna Yara collapsed at the service and concerned friends and relatives rushed to her aid. One held the grandmother face as she was overcome with grief. Nahla Wagih, a friend of Miss Tawfik, said: "It is so sad to see the family in this state. There are no words to describe her loss. Yara was the perfect daughter and grand-daughter. The family must be broken. I don’t know what words of comfort to say to them" Mrs Wagih, who worked with Miss Tawfik as a flight attendant on Egypt Air, was one of hundreds of relatives, friends and colleagues who attended the memorial, to which MailOnline was invited. A large picture of Miss Tawfik was put up in the church between cross of flowers during the 40-minute service. Afterwards, members of her family stood...
Post a Comment
Read more