ASHEBORO, N.C. -- A controversy erupted on Saturday after the Cincinnati Zoo shot and killed a gorilla. Zookeepers there said they had little choice after a 4-year-old boy fell into the wild animal's enclosure.
Jennifer Ireland with the North Carolina Zoo talked about this incident and how they hope to learn from it.
"To hear that an animal has been killed, an innocent animal has been killed is very sad and very hard to take,” said Ireland. "But it’s something we all can learn from, all of us in the zoo communities need to sit down and talk about it and make sure that their policies are right for them and to make sure the exhibits are safe.”
While many of the enclosures include things like very tall walls to keep visitors out, zookeepers say they are always prepared in the event that somebody does get in.
"It’s something that no zoo wants to have to face,” said Ireland. “It is something that we practice here; however, twice a year. We do drills that would be either an animal getting out of its exhibit or a person getting inside the animal exhibit.”
Ireland says it is also up to the parents to try to help prevent these tragedies as much as possible.
Grandfather Chris Harwood says parents should warn their kids to be safe, like he did with his 3-year-old granddaughter.
“We talked to her about just that,” said Harwood. "We’ve seen it on the news, and we said, 'This is what you have to do, you have to be with us.' And she’s done real good.”
Ireland adds while the animals may be cute and caged, they are still extremely dangerous.
“I think it’s very important for people to realize these are not pets that live here at the zoo. These are wild and dangerous animals,” said Ireland. "The keepers work with these animals every day, and we don’t even share the same space with them so certainly a stranger sharing the same space is an extremely dangerous situation.”
The child was safely removed from the enclosure after officials were able to kill the gorilla. No criminal charges have been filed yet against the zoo or the parents.