A gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo was shot dead Saturday after it grabbed and dragged around a three-year-old boy who had fallen into its enclosure, officials said.
The child was treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries after he had crawled through a barrier and fell about 12 feet into the gorilla’s exhibit, where he was “violently” dragged and thrown around, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said its 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla, Harambe, posed a danger to the child because of its 400-pound size and strength.
“The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he’s gone,” Maynard said, according to the Enquirer. “We’ve never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation.”
The boy was with the gorilla for about 10 minutes before zoo officials deemed the situation life-threatening, the newspaper reports. “It’s a sad day all the way around,” Maynard said. “They made a tough choice. They made the right choice because they saved that little boy’s life. It could have been very bad.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Introducing the 2025 Closers
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- Why, Exactly, Is Alcohol So Bad for You?
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- 11 New Books to Read in February
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Column: Trump’s Trans Military Ban Betrays Our Troops
Contact us at letters@time.com