--- title: Zookeeper In Gorilla Suit Shot With Tranquilizer at Spanish Zoo description: The employee was dressed as a gorilla as part of a drill simulating the escape of an animal, and is in serious condition canonical: https://time.com/2825702/zookeeper-gorilla-suit-loro-parque/ author: Per Liljas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-06T05:15:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:23.830Z og:title: Zookeeper In Gorilla Suit Shot With Tranquilizer at Spanish Zoo og:description: The employee was dressed as a gorilla as part of a drill simulating the escape of an animal, and is in serious condition og:url: https://time.com/2825702/zookeeper-gorilla-suit-loro-parque/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0685997a2e19828/6986964206f2c10e5332f548/rtr1zirt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: RTR1ZIRT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Zookeeper In Gorilla Suit Shot With Tranquilizer at Spanish Zoo twitter:description: The employee was dressed as a gorilla as part of a drill simulating the escape of an animal, and is in serious condition twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0685997a2e19828/6986964206f2c10e5332f548/rtr1zirt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Zookeeper Dressed in a Gorilla Suit Got Shot With a Tranquilizer Dart by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Jun 6, 2014 5:15 AM UTC  A gorilla hides behind a tree at the Loro Parque Zoo in Puerto de La cruz in Spain's Canary Island of Tenerife April 15, 2008. A gorilla hides behind a tree at the Loro Parque Zoo in Puerto de La cruz in Spain's Canary Island of Tenerife April 15, 2008.Santiago Ferrero—Reuters by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Jun 6, 2014 5:15 AM UTC A zookeeper at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, [was shot](https://www.thedodo.com/zoo-vet-mistakes-employee-in-g-578204140.html) with a tranquilizer dart that delivered a dose meant to take down a 180 kg ape. He was wearing a gorilla costume at the time, as part of a drill simulating the escape of a captive animal. Similar drills are standard procedure at zoos, but apparently in this case one veterinarian was unaware of the ongoing exercise and promptly shot the suited employee in the leg. The zookeeper suffered an allergic reaction to the massive injection and was taken to University Hospital of the Canary Islands, where he is in serious condition. Loro Parque has been rattled by controversies in the past, most notably in regard to its treatment of orca whales. On Christmas Eve 2009, a whale attacked and killed a trainer during a practice session, providing fuel for many opponents of orca captivity. \[[_The Dodo_](https://www.thedodo.com/zoo-vet-mistakes-employee-in-g-578204140.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2825702/zookeeper-gorilla-suit-loro-parque/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2825702/zookeeper-gorilla-suit-loro-parque/"},"headline":"A Zookeeper Dressed in a Gorilla Suit Got Shot With a Tranquilizer Dart","datePublished":"2014-06-06T05:15:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:23.830Z","description":"A drill at a Spanish zoo went horribly wrong as one veterinarian was unaware that the gorilla on the loose was in fact an employee wearing a suit","url":"https://time.com/2825702/zookeeper-gorilla-suit-loro-parque/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Accident","Bizarre","Zoo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0685997a2e19828/6986964206f2c10e5332f548/rtr1zirt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0685997a2e19828/6986964206f2c10e5332f548/rtr1zirt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"RTR1ZIRT","caption":"A gorilla hides behind a tree at the Loro Parque Zoo in Puerto de La cruz in Spain's Canary Island of Tenerife April 15, 2008.","creditText":"Santiago Ferrero—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2825702/zookeeper-gorilla-suit-loro-parque/","name":"A Zookeeper Dressed in a Gorilla Suit Got Shot With a Tranquilizer Dart"}}]}] ```