The response team of Cincinnati Zoo killed a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla Saturday named Harambe and weighed 400-pound with a rifle after a 4-year-old boy slipped into its enclosure.
Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said in a news conference the animal carried the kid around its habitat for about 10 minutes and this is considered as a life-threatening situation.
The small boy was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Briefing to the press the director added the kid may have gone into the enclosure through the wires and over the moat wall.
The authorities were able to call two female gorillas out of the habitat, but the male animal went to the moat and picked up the child.
Maynard further said, “The child was not under attack but all sorts of things could happen… He certainly was at risk.”
Using tranquilizer was not the best option as the drug takes effect too slowly.
Meanwhile, it is also learned the western lowland gorilla is a rare speices found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic.
Harambe’s birthday was on Friday. He was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.
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