CINCINNATI — Authorities say no decision has been made yet on whether to bring charges against of the parents of a 3-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, causing an animal response team to fatally shoot the primate.
Meanwhile, a world-renowned gorilla expert is voicing support for the zoo’s decision to kill the male lowland gorilla known as Harambe.
Cincinnati city spokesman Rocky Merz said Wednesday no determination has been made on possible charges nor has anything related to the case been released by departments investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, in a 911 call released Wednesday, the boy’s mother pleads for help while shouting at the child: “Be calm!”
Another woman is heard telling bystanders at the zoo Saturday to be quiet because they’re annoying the gorilla.
The boy’s family released a statement saying he continues to do well and expressing gratitude to the Cincinnati Zoo for protecting him.
The Jane Goodall Institute has released an e-mail sent by the primatologist and conservationist to the director of the Cincinnati Zoo expressing empathy with him over the weekend shooting of a gorilla in an effort to protect a small child.
Goodall writes that she feels sorry for Maynard having to defend a shooting that he “may disapprove of.” Goodall says it looked like the gorilla was putting an arm around the child and calls it “a devastating loss.”
Goodall also asks about the reaction of the other gorillas and whether they were allowed to express grief.
Goodall is known for her decades of studying wild chimpanzees in Tanzania.