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The Cincinnati's Zoo 17-year-old western lowland gorilla, Harambe, picked the 4-year-old boy up and was carrying him around the enclosure. The zoo deemed it a life-threatening situation. The boy was later treated for non-life threatening injuries. USA TODAY
Harambe, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden's newest gorilla, was put down after a 4-year-old child fell into his enclosure Saturday.(Photo: Photo: Provided/Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden)
The Cincinnati Zoo was open Sunday for Memorial Day weekend tourists, but the gorilla exhibit was closed indefinitely after authorities killed a gorilla that attacked a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>4-year-old boy who fell into the enclosure's moat.
Zoo President Thane Maynard said the boy crawled through a barrier Saturday, fell 10 to 12 feet and was grabbed by the zoo's 17-year-old male<span style="color: Red;">*</span>western lowland gorilla, Harambe.
The Cincinnati Fire Department said in a statement that first responders "witnessed a gorilla who was violently dragging and throwing the child."<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The boy was with the 400-pound animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation "life-threatening," Maynard said.
Police confirmed the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center near the zoo and was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
"The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he's gone," Maynard said. "We've never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency<span style="color: Red;">*</span>situation."
Maynard said the Dangerous Animal Response Team followed procedures, which they practice in drills. He said no one had ever gotten into the enclosure<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the 38-year history of the zoo's gorilla exhibit.
"It's a sad day all the way around," Maynard said. "They made a tough choice. They made the right choice, because they saved that little boy's life. It could have been very bad."
After the gorilla was shot, zoo employees unlocked the gate and two<span style="color: Red;">*</span>firefighters quickly retrieved the child, according to the fire department.
Two female gorillas were also in the enclosure.
“We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically endangered gorilla,” he said in a news release. “This is a huge loss for the zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.”
Brittany Nicely of Dayton was visiting the zoo with her two children and four other children on Saturday. They were at Gorilla World when the incident took place.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little boy in the bushes past the little fence area. I tried to grab for him. I started yelling at him to come back," Nicely said.
"Everybody started screaming and going crazy," she said. "It happened so fast."
Nicely said the gorilla rushed toward the boy and led him by the arm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>through the water in the enclosure. She said initially the gorilla seemed protective and only alarmed by all the screaming.
The area was then evacuated by zoo staff. Nicely stood with her group<span style="color: Red;">*</span>outside the exhibit.
"About four or five minutes later we heard the gunshot," she said. "We were pretty distraught. All the kids were crying."
Nicely said she spent the whole trip home explaining why they are told to stay close and not run at the zoo.
"That could have been them," she said. "Something like that could have happened.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>It's a very traumatizing experience for anybody<span style="color: Red;">*</span>involved. The kids, the zookeepers, the other gorillas that now don't have him there any more."
The decision to shoot Harambe instead of tranquilizing the animal was made in the interest of the boy's safety, Maynard said.
"In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect," he explained, "At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response. You don't hit him and he falls over."
Maynard also explained that while Harambe didn't attack the child, the animal's size and strength posed a great danger.
"All sort of things could have happened in a situation like that.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>He certainly was at risk," Maynard said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and little boy.”
He said that zoo officials have not yet spoken with the family of the child. Zoo officials<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will be reviewing the security of the enclosure and their procedures, but said they have no plans to stop the gorilla program.
Harambe was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, before he was moved to Cincinnati in September 2014. Another gorilla,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Gladys, named for her home zoo, also came to Cincinnati from Brownsville.
Western lowland gorillas<span style="color: Red;">*</span>are one of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>four gorilla subspecies. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, populations of the critically endangered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>animal are hard to estimate because of the dense, remote rain forests where they make their home, but experts say between<span style="color: Red;">*</span>175,000 to 225,000<span style="color: Red;">*</span>could live mostly in Congo, but also in Angola,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and Gabon.
In 2009, the International Species Information System counted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>158 male western lowland gorillas<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and 183 females in captivity in the United States.
"Harambe was good guy. He was a youngest who started to grow up. There were hopes to breed him," Maynard said. "It will be a loss to the gene pool of lowland gorillas."
<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
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