A special zoo response team shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla on Saturday that grabbed and dragged a four-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla exhibit moat, Cincinnati Zoo’s director said.
Authorities said the boy, who fell nearly four 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 Centre. Zoo officials said he was alert when he was transported there.
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Director Thane Maynard said the zoo’s dangerous animal response team that prepares for such incidents decided the boy was in “a life-threatening situation” and that they needed to put down the more than 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.”
Authorities initially said the child was three years old, but the zoo said in a press release on Saturday night that he was four. Maynard 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 tranquillising the gorilla wouldn’t have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.