A visit to the zoo turned tragic and fatal for one two year old. On November 5, 2012, a mother was trying to give her baby son a better view of wild African dogs. He then fell into the animal exhibit and was attacked and killed by a pack of animals as family members and bystanders looked on in horror.
Lt. Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police attested that the attack occurred at approximately 11:45 a.m. Sunday after the mother picked the child up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck.
"Almost immediately after that he lost his balance, fell down off the railing into the pit, and he was immediately attacked by 11 dogs," Kraus said. "It was very horrific."
There is ambiguity as to the cause of death being the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Zoo officials initially predicted the boy fell 14 feet, but police said it was 11. It's not apparent which is accurate.
Authorities said that zoo staff and then police promptly responded "within minutes" but visitors described that time as being covered with screams for help. Zookeepers tried to ward off some of the dogs, and seven of them straight away went to a back building. Three more finally were taken away from the child, but the last dog was hostile and police had to shoot the animal.
Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, recounted that no noe could remember any deaths of children at any accredited zoo for the last four decades and more. Feldman held the Pittsburgh Zoo successfully completed its 5-year review in September, which indicated it satisfied or exceeded all safety standards.
Authorities didn't disclose the identities of the mother or son, but say she is 34 years old and lives in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. The boy's father came to the scene soon after the accident, police said.
The zoo closed right after the incident and it is not certain when it will re-open and further investigations will be made.
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