A child was rescued after falling into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo Saturday, Cincinnati police and fire departments confirm.
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A witness said the gorilla dragged the boy around.
Maynard said it was the first time that a zoo animal had to be killed in an emergency situation, and he called it “a very sad day” at the zoo. The child isn’t believed to have life-threatening injuries.
Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said the decision to shoot the gorilla to save the boy’s life was hard, but it was the right one.
It appeared the boy crawled underneath the railing of the 38-year-old Gorilla World exhibit.
Maynard said the boy, who was not identified, was not seriously injured in the fall.
Maynard said the child then made it through wired fencing, over the wall and into the water moat. Zoo officials will be reviewing the security of the enclosure and their procedures, but they said they have no plans to stop the gorilla program.
Harambe was a lowland gorilla, which is an endangered species.
“It was a hard choice… but we’ve never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo”.
The gorilla, named Harambe, dragged the boy around and held him for about 10 minutes, zoo officials said at a press conference. “It will be a loss to the gene pool of lowland gorillas”.
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Maynard said the zoo’s Gorilla World area would be open as usual on Sunday.
