A baby gorilla was tragically crushed in an accident deemed as ‘human error’ when a zoo employee activated the wrong door inside the enclosure, fatally injuring the animal.
Eyare, a 2-year-old female Western Lowland gorilla, died on Wednesday after Wilder Institute-Calgary Zoo member triggered the incorrect enclosure door, striking the baby animal and causing traumatic head injuries.
The gorilla was moving around in the back of the enclosure, roaming from bedroom to bedroom, interacting with the other gorillas when the harrowing incident occurred.
‘A member of [Eyare’s] care team intended to activate a door to separate Eyare from other members of the troop for an individual animal training session but mistakenly activated the wrong door, resulting in Eyare being struck by the door and sustaining traumatic head injuries,’ Colleen Baird, Director of Animal Care, Health and Welfare at the Canadian zoo, said.
The zoo’s gorilla team immediately retrieved the wounded gorilla from the habitat before veterinary team took over.
The veterinary team then performed lifesaving measures to keep the 2-year-old gorilla alive, including CPR. Yet, ‘sadly Eyare succumbed to her injuries,’ Baird said.
Following the heart-breaking accident the zoo launched a formal investigation and has since shared the preventative and corrective measures they will enforce going forward.
The locations of the door control levers are also being reassessed as a result of the incident.
Eyare, a 2-year-old female Western Lowland gorilla , died on Wednesday after Wilder Institute-Calgary Zoo member triggered the incorrect enclosure door, striking the baby animal and causing traumatic head injuries
The gorilla was moving around in the back of the enclosure, roaming from bedroom to bedroom, interacting with the other gorillas when the harrowing incident occurred. Pictured: The Wilder Institute-Calgary Zoo in Calgary, Canada
The zoo’s gorilla team immediately retrieved the wounded gorilla from the habitat before veterinary team took over
The zoo also shared that the gorilla care team member directly involved in the accident was immediately removed from the workplace and will have to undergo further training before reassignment to another area of the zoo.
‘This tragedy has struck us all in the deepest way imaginable,’ Baird added.
‘Eyare’s short but impactful life brought so much joy to our community, and she will be deeply missed by all. We will do everything we can to prevent future incidents.’
The Calgary zoo has had two human-caused animal mortalities over the last 10 years.
One in 2016, when a North American river otter drowned after becoming tangled in an ‘unauthorized’ pair of pants a zookeeper mistakenly dropped inside its enclosure.
Eyare’s saddening death marked the second human-caused animal mortality case at the Canadian zoo.
The Wilder Institute-Calgary Zoo cares for over 4,000 animals, including six other western lowland gorillas, Jasiri, Zuri, Yewande, Kioja, Dossi, and Okabe.
