Kids Have Fallen Into Gorilla Enclosures In The Past But With Different Endings

Before the Cincinnati Zoo tragedy involving a little boy and a giant gorilla, there have been other, similar encounters that ended without the primate being shot to death. In 1986, a 5-year-old boy named Levan Merritt fell into a gorilla enclosure and was knocked unconscious. A silverback gorilla named Jambo stroked the boy’s back as if to soothe him. In 1996, a 3-year-old boy tumbled more than 20 feet into the gorilla exhibit. She placed him near the cage’s door and stepped back as zookeepers picked up the child.