Cincinnati Zoo officials shot and killed Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla, after the animal picked up and dragged a three-year-old boy that fell into his enclosure on Saturday. SCREENGRAB FROM CINCINNATI ZOO FACEBOOK PAGE
WASHINGTON, United States 鈥� Workers at the Cincinnati Zoo in the US state of Ohio shot and killed a gorilla on Saturday after a three-year-old boy fell into its enclosure, officials said.
The boy crawled through a barrier into the enclosure and fell into a moat around 4 pm (1600 GMT), zoo director Thane Maynard told reporters.
The gorilla, a 17-year-old male named Harambe weighing more than 400 pounds (180 kilograms), 鈥渨ent down and got him,鈥� he said.
Witnesses said the gorilla dragged the screaming boy around the habitat, local media reported.
The zoo鈥檚 dangerous animal response team shot and killed the gorilla around 10 minutes after the boy first entered it.
He was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, media quoted the police as saying.
The zoo鈥檚 response team decided to shoot the gorilla rather than tranquilize him because a tranquilizer would not have taken effect immediately, Maynard said.
鈥淚t seemed by our own dangerous animals response team to be a life-threatening situation,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey saved that little boy鈥檚 life.鈥�
The zoo houses 11 gorillas, according to its website.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never had a situation like this,鈥� Maynard said.