Dramatic Rescue of Boy from Gorilla Habitat, Sad End for Silver Back
Saturday the Cincinnati Zoo was the site of a dramatic and tragic series of events. A rambunctious 4-year-old boy broke away from his distracted mother and fell into a gorilla habitat, housing Harambe, a 400 pound silver back lowland gorilla.
Though the powerful animal was gentle and apparently protective of the child for stretches of time, emergency personnel observed the gorilla dragging the child around and throwing him at times. A decision was made to put Harambe down with a rifle, since the animal posed a risk to the child in an agitated state. The use of a tranquilizer gun was rejected, since the drug wouldn’t take effect right away, but might greatly increase the risk to the child for several minutes. Read more
