The four-year-old boy who shockingly snuck into, and then fell into, the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo on May 28 has thankfully been released from the hospital. The animal, named Harambe, was a Western lowland gorilla, an endangered species, and the zoo said it had meant to use him for breeding.
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“The little boy, once he fell, I don’t think the gorilla even knew that he was in there until he heard him splashing in the water”, Brittany Nicely told ABC News on Sunday, explaining that zoogoers’ screams drew more attention to the Saturday afternoon incident.
The Zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response Team responded to the life-threatening situation and made the hard decision to dispatch the gorilla (Harambe).
The Cincinnati Zoo has been packed with visitors this holiday weekend when many of them were shocked by an incident in which a 4-year-old boy crawled through a railing and fell into a moat in a gorilla habitat. Zoo officials say they chose to kill Harambe instead of tranquilize him because “in an agitated situation” tranquilizers may take some time to go into effect.
Zoo director Maynard noted 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 zoo houses 11 gorillas.
Although some captivity proponents argue that zoos are helpful tools to allow people to learn about – and thus care about and protect – wild animals, Mr. Stewart says this reasoning is flawed. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and little boy”, said Maynard. “It could have been very bad”, Maynard said. A woman could be heard saying, “Mommy’s right here” as well as “mommy loves you”.
“Nicely said the gorilla rushed toward the boy and led him by the arm through the water in the enclosure. The mother’s like, ‘No, you’re not, no, you’re not, ‘” she said.
He added: “We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla”.
The gorilla toyed with the boy for about 10 minutes. He was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he’s expected to recover. While two female gorillas were called out of the habitat, Harambe, a 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla, remained in the moat.
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Maynard said the exhibit was safe, and they have never had a problem with anybody getting past the array of steel wires before. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it was if a 4-year-old can get through”.
