CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo has temporarily closed its gorilla exhibit after a special zoo response team shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla that grabbed and dragged a 4-year-old boy who fell into a moat.
Zoo officials said the boy fell after he climbed through a public barrier at the Gorilla World exhibit Saturday afternoon. He was picked up out of the moat and dragged by the gorilla, named Harambe, for about 10 minutes.
Authorities said the child, who has not been identified, fell about three meters. He was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where he is expected to recover. Hospital officials said they couldn't release any information on him.
Zoo Director Thane Maynard said the zoo's dangerous animal response team decided the boy was in "a life-threatening situation" and that they needed to put down the 400-pound-plus male gorilla named Harambe.