00:00the world of wildlife is host to many extraordinary creatures many people are
00:14fascinated by the various species that occupy our planet from the deepest
00:19darkest seas to the harshest jungles of the world create great interest some
00:25people satisfy their curiosity by tuning into wildlife programs on tv or the internet while
00:32others prefer to get an up-close and personal education in the form of city zoos unfortunately
00:39some of these close encounters can lead to very dangerous situations let's take a look
00:45back at the incident that shocked the world the cincinnati zoo and botanical garden is one
00:51of the oldest and most highly ranked zoos in america the facility is one of the top tourist
00:56destinations for travelers it houses over 500 exotic species and almost 2 000 animals ranging
01:05from big cats to the smallest reptiles you probably never heard of soon the historic zoo would be at
01:11the center of much negative headlines in may of 2016 a mother decided to take her children
01:20to visit the world famous zoo it being the weekend the park was busy and had tons of traffic
01:27the family like many others wandered around the compound visiting multiple animal enclosures
01:34her three-year-old son isaiah was fascinated with the sight of the lowland gorillas
01:40they stopped for a while and took a gaze at the three primates in their plush habitat
01:44it was home to a six foot 450 pound silverback named harumbe and his two adult female companions
01:53chewy and mara they were one of the most popular attractions for the zoo as the mother was preparing
02:00the rest of her children to move on to see the other animals isaiah apparently wasn't ready to leave the
02:07ape area so soon he wanted to get an even closer look at the primates not realizing the danger of
02:14such a pursuit he proceeded to climb the three-foot bordering fence then he crawled through several
02:22feet of bushes making it to a ledge suddenly falling 15 feet directly into the enclosure's shallow river
02:30as isaiah tumbled into the body of water making a big splash
02:33his mother became aware and so did other nearby onlookers the zoo keepers were notified and they
02:41acted quickly making efforts to signal the gorillas to go back inside their hides
02:47the two female apes complied to the personnel's commands harumbe on the other hand was curious of
02:54the toddler that fell in the water as the silverback inched closer and closer a crowd had gathered around
03:01and became quite panicked by the situation for good reason an adult male gorilla strength is
03:07estimated to be equivalent to 10 men combined not to mention they are known to have a rather strong
03:13bite as well as harumbe approached the boy in the water the spectators watching everything unfold began
03:21to get more in a frenzy the silverback took notice of the screams and the uproar that had started
03:27he seemed to take a protective stance shielding the little boy from the crowd's hysteria
03:35harumbe grabbed the young boy as he would his own offspring and pulled him away with ease
03:41the brute strength he displayed in the act caused great concern for the boy
03:45the child's mother terrified for her son's safety called the police
03:50i need you to call
03:53cincinnati 911 what is the address
03:57hi my son fell in the zoo exhibit as a gorilla this is in the zoo my son fell in with a gorilla
04:02there's a male gorilla standing over him i need someone to contact the zoo please okay we do already
04:07haven't started we do i already haven't helped started there okay okay be calm be calm be calm
04:16be calm he's driving my phone i can't walk here
04:22harumbe soon would take the young boy out of the moat and climb to higher ground
04:27as extreme worry for the child's safety continued to rise
04:32the zookeepers had to make a tough decision
04:34tranquilizer darts was originally an initial option
04:39but because they don't take immediate effect
04:42the emergency response team for the zoo feared an aggression response to being shot
04:47which would possibly lead to anger taken out on the defenseless isaiah
04:52they decided to take the fatal approach which would end the ape's life
04:57as harumbe sat with the toddler between his legs
05:00the train zoo keeper would focus a sniper rifle on the silverback
05:05ultimately ending his life with a fatal bullet
05:10harumbe was 17 years old and celebrated his birthday the day prior to this incident
05:17the young boy did not have any major injuries
05:20but was said to be concussed according to the mother following the encounter
05:25which could be attributed to the long fall into the enclosure
05:28as the videos and story reports made its way online
05:33a string of controversy would follow
05:36many viewers were upset the silverback was killed
05:40suggesting he seemed to not act in an aggressive way toward the child
05:45and many questioned the zoo's research of understanding the gorilla's behavior
05:50the family was also questioned for their negligence
05:52which led to the boy's close encounter with the silverback
05:57the president also shared his thoughts on the situation
06:01stories from this weekend was the situation at the cincinnati zoo
06:05and animal activists are outraged that they killed this gorilla who was holding a four-year-old boy
06:10how do you feel about it i think it's a very tough call it was amazing because there were
06:15moments with the gorilla the way he held that child it was almost like a mother holding a baby
06:21looks so beautiful and calm and there were moments where it looked pretty dangerous
06:28i don't think they had a choice i mean probably they didn't have a choice you have a child a young
06:33child is at stake and uh you know it's too bad there it wasn't another way i thought it was so beautiful
06:40to watch that you know powerful almost 500 pound gorilla the way he dealt with that little boy but
06:47it just takes one second it's one second it's not like it takes place over well he's going to do it
06:53in 30 seconds from now it just takes one little flick of his finger and i will tell you they probably
07:00had no choice years later the case is remembered as one of the more heartbreaking stories of zoo
07:06encounters what do you think about this story could there been another solution to separate the boy
07:12from the silverback did the zoo act correctly according to the behavior exhibited leave a comment below and let
07:20me know
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