Killing of Gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo Justified, Officials Say

CINCINNATI, OH - The Cincinnati Zoo is defending its decision to kill a gorilla after it grabbed a child that fell into its exhibit while others are questioning whether the zoo made the right choice.

In a statement, the zoo said the 4-year-old child climbed through a public barrier at Gorilla World and fell into the exhibit's moat.

At a press conference on Monday, zoo officials offered a more thorough explanation of how the child climbed through the public barrier and fell into the exhibit. The Cincinnati Enquirer explains that the, "boy went over a stainless steel rail that's a little more than 3 feet high, with vertical bars every eight feet. He made his way through the bushes to the edge of the moat, a distance of approximately 4 feet. From there, he dropped 15 feet to the moat, into a foot and a half of water."

In a statement, the Cincinnati Fire Department said that when first responders arrived on scene, "they witnessed a gorilla who was violently dragging and throwing the child."

"We are very glad that the little boy is okay," Thane Maynard, director of the Cincinnati Zoo told reporters at a press conference. "That is one happy thing in a sad and dangerous situation."

He said the zoo did not take the shooting of 17-year-old silverback gorilla Harambe lightly. However, Maynard said that those questioning whether the child's life was in danger didn't understand the risk the gorilla posed.

"They're very big, three times bigger than a man, six times stronger than that, this is a dangerous animal," he said.

Two female gorillas in the exhibit were recalled immediately when the child fell into the exhibit, but Harambe, who Maynard said was distracted and stimulated by the little boy, did not go in and started to drag the boy around. He added that snapshots and clips from the incident do not show everything that happened.
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"This child was being dragged around," Maynard said. "His head was banging on the concrete, this was not a gentle thing."

When zoo officials determined that the child was being injured, they made the decision to shoot Harambe.

Tranquilizing the animal was not an option as tranquilizers do not take effect for several minutes and the child was in imminent danger, the zoo said in a statement. Officials further explained that the impact from the dart could agitate the animal and cause the situation to get much worse.

The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office announced on Monday that the incident is under investigation by the Cincinnati Police Department.

"Once their investigation is concluded, they will confer with our office on possible criminal charges," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. "When the investigation and review are complete, we will update the media."

According to Cincinnati Police, the review is only regarding the actions of the parents/family that led up to the incident and not related to the operation or safety of the Cincinnati Zoo.

The United States Department of Agriculture does not have an investigation open at this time, Tanya Espinosa, public affairs specialist, told Patch via email. However, the agency will be looking into this incident to determine whether there were any Animal Welfare Act noncompliances that contributed.

Animal rights group PETA said the gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals. The agency also said that gorillas have shown to be protective of smaller living beings.

A Change.org petition calls for the child's parents to be held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to lose his life. The petition has already received over 300,000 signatures.

This is the first time there has been a breach at Gorilla World since it opened in 1978. The zoo is looking into whether the safety of the barrier can be improved.

Image via Cincinnati Zoo