4 Yr-Old Falls Into Gorilla Enclosure, What Happened Next Was TRAGIC [VIDEO]

by Warner Todd Huston | May 29, 2016 4:45 pm

A fun day at the zoo ended in tragedy for all concerned in Cincinnati, Ohio, when a four year-old child climbed through a security fence and then fell 12 feet into a gorilla enclosure. The incident ended up with the boy hospitalized in serious condition and a gorilla shot and killed by zoo emergency responders who feared for the boy’s life.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer[1], the gorilla became extremely agitated when the child fell into the moat of the enclosure at around 4 PM on Mary 28.

Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said the boy crawled through a barrier and fell an estimated 10 to 12 feet into the moat surrounding the habitat. He said the boy was not seriously injured by the fall.

The Cincinnati Fire Department reported in a press release that first responders “witnessed a gorilla who was violently dragging and throwing the child.”

Maynard said the zoo’s 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla, Harambe, grabbed the boy and dragged him around. Two female gorillas were also in the enclosure.

The boy was with the 400-pound animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation “life-threatening,” Maynard said.

“The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he’s gone,” Maynard said. “We’ve never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation.”

The zoo officials were between a rock and a hard place over the incident. They feared that if they shot the animal with a tranquilizer it would take too long to take effect and in the meantime, as he was going under the drug, the animal could get more violent and hurt or even kill the child.

“In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect,” Cincy police Lt. Steve Saunders explained, “At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response. You don’t hit him and he falls over.”

Here is some raw video of what Zoo goers saw that terrible day:

The zoo said they have never had such a situation before and never had to kill an animal for this reason.

It was a bad day for everyone, for sure.

Endnotes:
  1. Cincinnati Enquirer: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/28/police-child-taken-hospital-after-falling-into-gorilla-pen/85095094/

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