USDA to review gorilla's death; zoo to look at safety of exhibits

Cincinnati Zoo is safe.

Zoo officials made the right decision.

And they're not looking to place blame.

Those are among the key points Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard made at a packed news conference on Monday afternoon to address the death of Harambe, the 17-year-old western lowland gorilla killed Saturday after a child fell into his Gorilla World exhibit.

"It's unprecedented," Maynard told the crowd of assembled reporters. "We have never had to kill a dangerous animal in the middle of an emergency situation. The zoo's been here 143 years, so that's saying a lot."

Gorilla World's barrier setup exceeds required protocols and has been in place for 38 years without incident, Maynard said. Exhibits are inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture twice a year and by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums every five years for accreditation, he said.

"The exhibit is safe, the barrier is safe," he said. "The zoo was not negligent."

Even so, Maynard said the exhibit, which he describes as "very similar" to gorilla exhibits at other zoos, is under review. Zoo officials are looking to see what, if anything, needs to be done to reinforce the barrier. He could not say if additional measures would be in place when the exhibit reopens, which he hopes will be Saturday.

Zoo officials will also review other areas around the zoo to see what, if any, improvements should be made to protect the zoo's 1.6 million yearly visitors, as well as its animals.

And the USDA, which is charged with enforcing the Animal Welfare Act, will investigate, he said.

"We take safety very seriously," Maynard said. "That's an ongoing process."

New details emerge on incident

Maynard offered more specific details about Saturday's incident. Zoo officials have pieced it together as follows:

Just before 4 p.m., a 3-year-old boy went over a stainless steel rail that's a little more than 3 feet high, with vertical bars every eight feet. He made his way through the bushes to the edge of the moat, a distance of approximately 4 feet. From there, he dropped 15 feet to the moat, into a foot and a half of water. The boy, who has not been identified yet by authorities, started splashing around.

Keepers tried to call the gorillas inside. Two females in the exhibit complied. Harambe did not.

Zoo visitors – and there were plenty of them, more than 7,000 on Saturday – reacted.

Harambe heard the commotion. Then, he spotted the child. The gorilla went down into the water and grabbed the boy by the ankle. Harambe carried the boy up a ladder to dry land and continued dragging him around.

A security team emptied the exhibit. Soon, the zoo's dangerous animal response team dispatched Harambe with a single shot.

The decision was not made lightly, Maynard said. The child's life was in danger.

"This child was being dragged around; his head was banging on the concrete," Maynard said. "This is not a gentle thing. The child was at risk."

Tranquilizing Harambe would not have taken effect instantaneously and might have resulted in displaced aggression toward the child, Maynard said. And with Harambe's strength, such aggression could have been extremely dangerous.

Western lowland gorillas are three times bigger than a human, with arms as big as our legs, and about six times stronger, Maynard estimated. The zoo director had seen Harambe, who weighed in at more than 420 pounds, crush a coconut with one hand.

And the gorilla, known by his keepers as being handsome, smart and easy to train, was already "agitated and disoriented" by the boy's presence.

"In the real world, you make difficult calls, but you have to make them," Maynard said. "The safety of that child was paramount.

"We stand by our decision," he said. "We’d make the same call."

'You can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla'

Maynard addressed the numerous people on social media and elsewhere who don't agree with that decision.

"People who question that or are Monday morning quarterbacks or second-guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla," he said.

The Cincinnati Zoo has received messages of sympathy and empathy from zoo personnel from around the world, up to and including Jane Goodall.

"People that know gorillas well – people who research them in the wild, people who work with them in captivity – know exactly what decision was made and why," he said.

He also declined to place blame, which the social media frenzy surrounding the incident has done in large quantities, with venom particularly aimed at the boy's mother for not watching him more closely.

The Cincinnati Zoo, Maynard said, is "taking responsibility."

"I'm not a big finger-pointer," he said. "Politicians and pundits point fingers. We live in the real world and we make real decisions. People, kids and others, can climb over barriers."

He equated it to locking your house or your car. "If someone really wants to get in, they can," he said.

However, he did see a lesson to take away. “Everybody should keep a hold of their kids and keep an eye on them, here or anywhere," he said.

Maynard said zoo officials have not been in touch with the boy's family and that the zoo does not intend to press any charges. He doesn't know if there will be other legal ramifications for the zoo or family, but he is hopeful there will not be.

Maynard said the incident won't impact plans for a $12 million expansion to Gorilla World expected to be completed next year.

Overall, Maynard pointed out  the incident was sad, but could have been worse.

"Harambe was one of our most magnificent animals and a critically endangered species," he said. "It is a big loss. That said, we are very glad that the little boy is OK. That is one happy thing in a dangerous and sad story."

In an early version of this story, authorities incorrectly identified the USDA as government agency responsible for enforcing the Endangered Species Act. It is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The story has been edited to reflect that.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to say the boy is 3 years old. Police said late Tuesday they had received "conflicting reports" on the boy's age but confirmed Tuesday that he is 3.