A Fairborn woman said she tried to stop the boy who got inside the Cincinnati Zoo’s Gorilla World exhibit.
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“The family of a young boy who crawled in to a gorilla compound at a USA zoo, which resulted in one of the mighty apes being killed, have thanked the zoo for the quick action in saving their child”.
During the time the gorilla grabbed the 4-year-old boy, zoo visitors panicked as they watched helplessly and some people shouted “Stay calm!” while the mother of the child can be heard yelling, “Mommy loves you!” Once there, a 17-year-old male gorilla spotted the boy and approached him. It is believed that the situation was caused by parental negligence and the zoo is not responsible for the child’s injuries and possible trauma.
Parents at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey said they are watching children a little more closely today. “We know that this was a very hard decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla”.
Witness Kim OConnor shared video she and her family recorded with WLWT-TV of the boy and Harambe. In a statement, the zoo said the boy was alert when taken to a hospital.
“Jumping into the pit right along with him”, one parent said.
Although 17-year-old Harambe did not attack the boy, he did start carrying it around its habitat for 10 minutes in what officials interpreted as a life-threatening situation.
The gorilla called Harambe was shot after zookeepers decided a tranquilizer dart would be too slow to take effect.
Video from the moments afterward shows the gorilla standing over the boy in a shallow moat.
“God protected my child until the authorities were able to get him”.
Earlier this month, a zoo in Chile’s capital said it was forced to kill two lions to protect a suicidal man who had entered their cage in front of horrified visitors.
One witness said that just before the boy fell, she saw him in bushes beyond a fence around the exhibit.
The boy was alert when he was taken to hospital, according to officials.
A gorilla was shot and killed in Cincinnati Zoo in OH yesterday after dragging around a 4-year-old boy who had entered its enclosure.
“Nicely said the gorilla rushed toward the boy and led him by the arm through the water in the enclosure”.
Zoo officials said the boy fell after he climbed through a public barrier at the Gorilla World exhibit yesterday afternoon.
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Police and EMTs were called to the zoo at about 4 p.m. for reports that a gorilla was “slamming the child into the wall”.
