Toddler survives fall into jaguar enclosure in Arkansas zoo
A 3-year old boy fell into a jaguar pit at the Little Rock, Ark., zoo. He was quickly rescued but is hospitalized with injuries.
A 3-year old boy fell into a jaguar pit at the Little Rock, Ark., zoo. He was quickly rescued but is hospitalized with injuries.
A Little Rock police report says the father and grandfather of a child who fell into a jaguar聽exhibit at the Little Rock Zoo reported only seeing the child's feet going over the rail.
Witnesses told Fox Channel 16 in Little Rock that they saw the two jaguars bite the boy near his neck and foot.聽The cats let go of the child when the boy鈥檚 father and grandfather threw a camera bag and a water hose spool at the animals.
鈥淥ur thoughts and prayers are with the child and the family. The safety of our citizens is of paramount value and our staff followed training procedures on rescuing the child and were able to respond quickly and efficiently and work with emergency personnel. A full investigation into the incident is being conducted,鈥� said City Manager Bruce Moore.
Arkansas Children's Hospital said the child was in critical condition after falling into the exhibit about 11 a.m. Friday. ABC News reports that the child was being treated for a head injury from the fall.聽Hospital spokesman Dan McFadden said in a news release the child's guardian asked that the child's name and other information not be released, although police report says the child is 3.
The report says the father and grandfather threw items at the animals until zoo staff arrived and used a fire extinguisher to keep the聽jaguars聽away from the child, who was eventually pulled to safety by a zoo employee after a ladder was lowered into the exhibit.
In 1986, at 5-year old boy fell into the gorilla exhibit at the Jersey Zoo in England. According to eyewitness accounts, the father hid lifted the boy, Levan Merritt, up on the chest high wall so that he could see better. He turn to pick up his other son, and the first boy toppled into the gorilla pit. 聽
The boy was rescued by the emergency medical team who climbed into the enclosure and lifted the boy out with a rope. The entire event was captured on video.