Violent Gorilla Escape Leads to Investigations, Questions About Police Tactics

AP ^ | Mar.19, 2004

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Violent Gorilla Escape Leads to Investigations, Questions About Police Tactics

Mar 19, 2004

By Lisa Falkenberg/ Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) - The scene at the Wilds of Africa exhibit was wilder than anything most zookeepers have witnessed in the jungle: A 300-pound gorilla breaks out of its enclosure and goes on a 40-minute rampage through a forest, snatching up a toddler with his teeth and attacking three other people before being shot by officers. Federal regulators are investigating the Dallas Zoo over Thursday's escape, zoo officials are trying to figure out how the gorilla managed to break out, and animal welfare advocates are questioning whether officers had to kill the beast.

"Clearly, this is a zoo's worst nightmare," said Dan Wharton, director of the Central Park Zoo and chairman of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Gorilla Species Survival Plan.

The 13-year-old Jabari broke out of the enclosure as several families and children took in the jungle exhibit Thursday afternoon. After escaping, the gorilla darted in and out of the exhibit's thick bamboo and trees and attacked four people, including two women and two children.

Police were forced to evacuate an estimated 300 people from the zoo compound, while some guests hid inside a restaurant and the monorail surrounding the Wilds of Africa exhibit.

How the 13-year-old gorilla exactly broke out was unclear. Some youths had reportedly teased Jabari shortly before he escaped, but it was not known if that was a factor in the breakout.

Zoo director Rich Buickerood said the gorilla "had to have scaled" the enclosure's 15-foot concave wall. But some experts doubt that could have happened.

"Virtually anybody who's worked with great apes has not been able to compute anyway that a gorilla could get up a 15-foot wall," Wharton said. "When you boil it all down, at some level, one has to assume human error. There really is no explanation."

Only two gorillas, including one in Boston last year, have escaped in the last five years in North America, said Wharton, who coordinates the records for the 380 gorillas on the continent.

The injured included a mother and her toddler son. Rivers Noah, 3, was in fair condition at Children's Medical Center with multiple bites to his head and chest. His mother, Keisha Heard, 26, was bitten on the legs.

"I was like, 'This is not happening, this is so unreal,' because he just came out of nowhere," Heard said Friday on NBC's Today show. "He has my son in his mouth, he's attacking him, and I tried to help him and there wasn't really anything that I could do. ... He slings me back across the concrete area where we are."

Heard was treated and released along with a woman who suffered arm injuries. A child was treated at the scene.

Federal regulators said their investigation will look at whether the zoo was in full compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, but they would not provide specifics on possible violations.

Darby Holladay, a spokesman for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the zoo could face fines or have its license suspended or revoked if it is found out of compliance.

Police also are investigating, but they said officers were forced to shoot the charging gorilla after it came within 15 feet of them.

"We did not go out there looking to kill an animal," said Senior Cpl. Chris Gilliam, a Dallas police spokesman. "We went out there in response to a situation where three people had already been injured."

Dieter Steklis, chief scientist and vice president for the Atlanta-based Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, said police could have tried to contain the gorilla with nonfatal techniques, including using rubber bullets or cornering it with a wall of 15-20 people, preferably keepers the animal recognized.

"It sounds like, somehow, there was a bit too much panic on hand and too little judgment of the gorilla's behavior," said Steklis, who has confronted charging gorillas in the wild.

Workers armed with tranquilizer guns had pursued the gorilla, but could not gain a clear shot, officials said. Gilliam said he did not know why zoo employees who were armed with pepper spray did not use it on the gorilla.

He said the officers used the best method available considering the size of the animal. "Plastic bullets wouldn't help," Gilliam said.

The 114-year-old zoo has been in financial straits in recent years. Buickerood said last month that the zoo staff had been cut and maintenance postponed because of the fund shortage.

In 1998, a 25-year-old zookeeper was mauled by a 340-pound silverback gorilla at the zoo after the door to the animal's cage was left open. The attack lasted more than 30 minutes, leaving the zookeeper with more than 30 puncture wounds. That animal was captured with a tranquilizer dart.

[oceanview]

this zoo needs to be closed down.

[lizma]

Dieter Steklis, chief scientist and vice president for the Atlanta-based Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, said police could have tried to contain the gorilla with nonfatal techniques,

How much do you want to bet ole Dieter believes in negotiating with terrorist?

The police just saw a gorilla munching on some kid's head. They put human safety first. Shame on them.

[nuconvert]

Bad?

[rogueleader]

They're not human. If we let them run around in the streets, this will literally become the Planet of the Apes.

The next thing you hear, they'll be saying "police brutality" includes anytime you shoot an animal.

[beaversmom]

It was feeding time at the zoo, and when no one was looking, Marvin slipped out! Thus begin the adventures of Marvin, the large, friendly ape who decides to explore the world outside his cage and finds it wonderful. Young readers, and everyone else who has ever longed to escape from the humdrum world, will shout with glee for Marvin, in this hilarious picture book about the most engaging runaway in the zoo's history. Cheers for Marvin, for all the little cats that sharp-eyed readers can discover in each picture, and for Helvetica too...!

[ApplegateRanch]

***The next thing you hear, they'll be saying "police brutality" includes anytime you shoot an animal.***

And just why do you think we are over run with coons, possums, ground squirrels, deer and other major nuisances in our towns & cities?

We won't even get into the resurgence of rats, mosquitoes, bedbugs, and other out & out vermin.

[flying Elvis]

Probably the same one that punched out Bobby Boucher.

[budwiesest]

The 114-year-old zoo has been in financial straits in recent years. Buickerood said last month that the zoo staff had been cut and maintenance postponed because of the fund shortage.

Slumlords.

[archy]

The 13-year-old Jabari broke out of the enclosure as several families and children took in the jungle exhibit Thursday afternoon.

As predicted. The setting and a few other details were off, but in all, pretty much foreseen in 1980:

Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place

I wish the ape a lot of success
I'm sorry my apartment's a mess
Most of all I'm sorry if I made you blue
I'm betting the gorilla will, too

They say Jesus will find you wherever you go
But when He'll come looking for you, they don't know
In the mean time, keep your profile low
Gorilla, you're a desperado

He built a house on an acre of land
He called it Villa Gorilla Now
I hear he's getting divorced
Laying low at L'Ermitage, of course

Then the ape grew very depressed
Went through Transactional Analysis
He plays racquetball and runs in the rain
Still he's shackled to a platinum chain

Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place

--Warren Zevon, Gorilla, You're a Desperado
Album: Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School, 1980

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Ah ....Warren Zevon....

Thanks for the memory......

[Celtic Conservative]

The police just saw a gorilla munching on some kid's head. They put human safety first. Shame on them. 3 posted on 03/19/2004 9:15:16 PM EST by lizma

Everybodys so concerned with the police tactics in this situation. I just see it as a measured response to the use of "gorilla tactics"

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