COLUMBUS – Jack Hanna says the Cincinnati Zoo made the right call by killing a gorilla that grabbed a 4-year-old boy who had entered its enclosure.
“There was no other decision to make,” the host of “Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild” told WBNS 10-TV. “You have human life, you have animal life. No one loves animal life more than the Hanna family or the zoo world and they made the right decision.”
The director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium told the television station that he saw video of the gorilla jerking the boy through a shallow moat in the exhibit Saturday afternoon and says the boy would have died if the gorilla wasn’t killed.
An animal protection watchdog group wants the federal government to hold the Cincinnati Zoo responsible for the death of the gorilla.
The Cincinnati-based Stop Animal Exploitation NOW says the U.S. Department of Agriculture that inspects zoo facilities should fine the zoo for having an exhibit in which people can gain access to animals. The USDA and Cincinnati Zoo didn’t immediately respond Tuesday morning to requests for comment.
The watchdog group’s executive director, Michael Budkie, says the zoo has had past problems. In March, two polar bears wandered through an open den door into a service hallway.
The zoo’s director on Monday defended the decision to kill the male western lowland gorilla named Harambe, noting it’s easy to second-guess after the child was recovered safely.
Harambe was killed Saturday by a special zoo response team.
Video taken by zoo visitors showed the gorilla at times appeared to be protective of the boy but also dragged him through the shallow moat.
Director Thane Maynard said the gorilla was agitated and disoriented by the commotion during the 10 minutes after the boy fell.
Maynard says a review is underway to determine possible improvements.
He added that the zoo remains safe for the 1.6 million people who visit each year.