Onlookers
gasp, anxious about the child's condition and fearful how the gorillas
will react to the unexpected visitor. Saturday's incident at the
Cincinnati Zoo - which ended with a gorilla named Harambe shot dead in
order to rescue a toddler - has ...
A young child falls into a zoo's gorilla enclosure.
Onlookers gasp, anxious about the child's condition and fearful how the gorillas will react to the unexpected visitor.
Saturday's incident at the Cincinnati Zoo — which ended with a gorilla
named Harambe shot dead in order to rescue a toddler — has drawn new
attention to previous encounters between gorillas and humans.
In 1986, Levan Merritt fell into the gorilla pit at Jersey Zoo in the U.K. Caretaker mourns death of gorilla killed at Cincinnati Zoo
As the 5-year-old lay bleeding after losing consciousness, Jambo — a
male silverback gorilla — watched over the boy, guarding against other
gorillas in the enclosure.
Jambo stands watch near Levan Merritt, 5, following the boy’s fall in 1986.
(AP)
Jambo ran away after Merritt gained consciousness and started to cry. Responders later jumped into the pit to rescue the boy.
Ten years later, in 1996, an unidentified boy climbed over a railing and fell into the enclosure at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
Binti Jua cradled the toddler in her arms and carried the boy to the zoo's service door, where keepers aided the injured boy.
Experts at the time called the child's predicament "extremely dangerous." Toddler falls into gorilla cage at Cincinnati Zoo
Binti Jua cradled a toddler in her arms and carried the boy to the zoo's service door following a 1996 fall.
(YouTube)
"You can never predict how the animals will react to a human in their
enclosure. The child had fallen into the ape's territory," exhibit
curator Melinda Pruett-Jones said following the 1996 encounter.
Harambe, the gorilla killed in Saturday's incident, showed similar
concern following the boy's 12-foot fall, grabbing the child and
carrying him into a moat.
But zoo officials worried for the boy's safety, with Cincinnati Zoo
President Thane Maynard calling the situation "life-threatening," and
experts fearful that tranquilizers would have taken too long to take
effect.
"They made a tough choice and they made the right choice. Because they
saved that little boy's life. It could have been very bad," Maynard
said.
Harambe the gorilla was shot dead after a toddler fell into the gorilla enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo.
(KTLA 5/WLWT5)
Animal expert Jack Hanna echoed similar sentiments.
"I've seen him take a green coconut, which you can't bust open with a sledgehammer and squish it like this," Hanna said about Harambe Monday on "Good Morning America."
"You're dealing with either human life or animal life here. So what is
the decision? I think it's very simple to figure that out."
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