Calgary Zoo employee suspended after near-escape of young gorilla

2010-03-16

Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald

An experienced Calgary zoo keeper has been suspended after a gorilla nearly escaped from its pen after it leaped from a pile of ice in his yard, pulled himself onto a glass fence and sat perched on the ledge.

Officials say the incident happened before 8 a.m. and the zoo hadn’t yet opened so there was no danger to the public.

The seven-year-old male — named Shana — jumped back into the yard when it was noticed.

“A staff member spotted him and I think the gorilla was more startled than the staff member,” said Cathy Gaviller, the zoo’s director of conservation and research. “He immediately leapt back into his enclosure and the whole thing was over before it began.”

Zoo keepers were immediately alerted, and Shana was brought indoors. Within two hours, a team began work on removing the pile of ice.

Gaviller said it’s unlikely the “mischievous” gorilla, who arrived from the Bronx Zoo last spring, would have strayed very far from home.

“We are confident this has eliminated the risk of this happening again, but we are considering installing additional precautionary safety measures,” she added. As recently as six weeks ago the Calgary Zoo’s curators met with staff to emphasise the necessity to check animal habitats — both inside and out — thoroughly each day.

This is the first time a gorilla has reached its boundary at the Calgary Zoo, Gaviller said.

Several unusual zoo incidents in Calgary over the years have drawn public ire, which prompted a review of its animal-care practices last month.

In late February, two Malagasy giant hognosed snakes went missing for a day after a zookeeper left a drain open while cleaning their enclosure. And last December, the death of a capybara — a species of giant rodent — was blamed on human error when it was caught in a hydraulic door.

Four mule deer have died at the zoo since September, two of long-term illness, one after injuring itself on a fence and another of a broken neck. In January 2009, a Turkmenian markhor, a species of wild goat, died after getting entangled in a rope and choking to death.

Several months later, a visitor to the zoo snapped photos of a gorilla with a knife after it was left behind by a keeper.

A number of other animals have died at the facility in the past six years, including two young elephants, four gorillas and 41 cow nose rays.

The report stemming from February’s review was scheduled to be released in mid-March.