Human error was the cause of a 2-year-old western lowland gorilla’s death in a Canadian zoo earlier this month, the zoo said.
Colleen Baird, director of animal care, health, and welfare at the Calgary Zoo, said in a statement on Wednesday that Eyare, the female gorilla, had been wandering between various rooms in the zoo’s gorilla enclosure on November 12 when a member of her care team triggered a hydraulic door.
When the care team member unintentionally opened the incorrect door while attempting to remove Eyare from other gorillas for a private training session, the young gorilla was struck and suffered severe head injuries. Eyare passed away from her wounds even though the zoo’s veterinary staff started life-saving procedures right away, according to Baird.
A official inquiry into Eyare’s death was started right once, according to the zoo, and the gorilla care team member who was responsible for the incident was fired. The employee will be “reassigned to another area of the zoo and will undergo further staff training for that area.”
“This tragedy has struck us all in the deepest way imaginable,” Baird added. “Eyare’s brief but significant life filled our community with so much joy, and everyone will miss her terribly. We’ll do every effort to stop similar events in the future.
According to the release, the zoo will be taking a number of preventative measures, such as requiring the gorilla care team to undergo regular, specialized training in the use of hydraulic doors, teaching the gorillas to keep a safe distance from doors when they are being moved, and making adjustments to enhance staff members’ capacity to identify which animal door they are moving.
Instead of sticking with hydraulic doors, the zoo stated that they are also looking into switching to other door and control solutions.
Six of the zoo’s 4,000 animals are western lowland gorillas. According to the announcement, there has only been one other instance of animal fatality at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo in the past ten years, and that was the death of a North American river otter in 2016.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!