A 4-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden escaped with serious---but non-life-threatening injuries.
In the enclosure, the boy was picked up by a 17-year-old, 400-pound gorilla, named Harambe. The gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo employee when the child was in between the ape’s legs. After shooting the gorilla, employees opened the gate and two firefighters retrieved the child.
The boy---who has not been identified---fell about 10 to 12 feet into a moat, where he was picked up and carried around by the gorilla for about 10 minutes. The boy was not seriously injured in the fall.
“The decision was not made lightly,” Maynard said, adding the zoo is in “the business” of protecting threatened animals. “Lowland gorillas are very endangered animals. There aren’t many in captivity. But it has the proper ending.”
