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After falling into the gorilla
enclosure at a Cincinnati zoo, a four-year-old boy was dragged through the water by a silverback
gorilla, as his mother, and visitors watched
helplessly. Although the gorilla appeared to be attempting to shelter the boy, eventually authorities had to kill
him anyway.
One woman yelled, "Mommy loves you!" as
the 400 pound gorilla stood over her 4-year-old
son.
Two witnesses said they thought the gorilla was trying to protect the boy at first before getting spooked by the
shouting and screaming of onlookers. The animal then picked the child up out of the moat and dragged him to another spot inside the exhibit, zoo officials said.
Fearing for the little boy's life, the zoo's dangerous-animal response team shot and killed the 17-year-old ape, named
Harambe.
Zoo officials said the 4-year-old climbed through a barrier at the Gorilla World exhibit and fell 10 to 12 feet into the moat Saturday afternoon. He was in there for about 10
minutes, before being rescued.
Lt. Steve Saunders, a Cincinnati police spokesman, said there are no plans to charge the parents.
Maynard called the killing a tragic death of a critically endangered species and a huge loss for the zoo and the gorilla population worldwide.
"They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life," Maynard,
the zoo director said. "It could have been very bad."
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