Police and the Allegheny County medical examiner's office are investigating, and they haven't yet interviewed the mother and father, who are receiving grief counseling.īaker said the zoo, which has never had a visitor death, will also investigate. Kraus said there was nothing to prevent visitors to the painted dog exhibit from jumping into the exhibit area. In September a man jumped off an elevated viewing train at the Bronx Zoo in New York and was severely mauled by tigers. Authorities first said the wall was 18 feet high, but a review found it was just 12 ½ feet. In 2007 a tiger jumped over a wall at the San Francisco zoo, killing one visitor and wounding two others. Past fatal attacks at have prompted zoos around the nation to review safety features of their exhibits. The zoo was on lockdown for about an hour as a precaution. In May, some of the dogs crawled under a fence and escaped into a part of the exhibit that's usually closed. Visitors walk onto a deck that is glassed on the sides, but open in front where the roughly four-foot railing is located. The attack happened in a 1.5 acre exhibit called the Painted Dog Bush Camp that's part of a larger open area where elephants, lions and other animals can be seen. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered. The so-called painted dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, and 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. The Allegheny County medical examiner planned an autopsy Monday and the boy's name was not expected to be released until that was complete. Zoo officials at first estimated the boy fell 14 feet, but police said it was 11. It's not yet clear whether the boy died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. "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. Sunday after the mother picked the child up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck. Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police said the attack happened at about 11:45 a.m. Officials had already reviewed the park for safety and will continue to look at other potential changes, she said.PITTSBURGH (AP) - A mother's attempt to give her two-year-old son a better view of wild African dogs turned into a tragedy at the Pittsburgh Zoo after the boy fell into the exhibit and was killed by a pack of the animals as relatives and bystanders looked on. “There is no such thing as a failproof exhibit,” she said. The reporter interrupted and pressed her: Do you take responsibility for not creating a failproof exhibit? We work with wild animals, we work with dangerous animals every day.” The safety not only of our visitors but our staff as well. We do everything we possibly can and evaluate it every day. “There’s no fail-proof part of risk in life. One reporter asked Baker whether she took responsibility for not creating a fail-proof exhibit. She said zoo officials around the world have sent condolences. The rest of the zoo, however, was scheduled to reopen Tuesday, Baker said, so that visitors could pay their respects. They have been put into a 30-day quarantine and the exhibit will be closed until further notice police now have custody of the scene. The dogs, who Baker said are the most endangered canine species in the world, will not be put down. Police are investigating the incident and Baker said that the zoo would, too. She acknowledged there were no warning signs on the enclosure’s railing. The zoo passed recent inspections and “discouraged” visitors from putting children on such railings, Baker said, although she did not elaborate on whether there were specific policies or regulations in place. Baker said a medical examination showed that the boy had been killed by the dogs, not the fall. Police shot one dog that refused to retreat from the exhibit when called.
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