After Cincinnati Gorilla Killing, Philly Zoo Vows to Review Protocol
Eula Ray, whose son is a curator for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botnical Garden, touches a sympathy card beside a gorilla statue outside the Gorilla World exhibit. | Photo by John Minchillo/AP
The Philadelphia Zoo will hold a meeting to review safety procedures following the incident at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden this past weekend, Andy Baker, the zoo’s chief operating officer, told the Metro.
A 3-year-old boy fell into the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday, ultimately prompting officials to shoot and kill Harambe, the 17-year-old, 450-pound gorilla who had ignored calls by staff to leave the exhibit and instead interacted violently with the boy.
Animal activists took to social media to demand that legal action be taken against the family. Harambe is part of a greatly shrinking population of western lowland silverback gorillas. The World Wildlife Fund has designated the subspecies as critically endangered.
The Philadelphia Zoo says it is confident that a similar incident will not happen at its own gorilla exhibit.
According to the Metro, the Philadelphia Zoo has an outdoor exhibit that is similar to the Cincinnati Zoo’s, but it is heavily fenced with mesh, and a moat and land section separate the visitors and the gorillas. Generally, most visitors view the gorillas from behind a thick glass wall.
“I have a lot of confidence in our barrier,” Baker said. “A kid is not going to be able to get through that.”
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