Investigators Find Gorilla Pen At San Francisco Zoo Unsafe

An inspection of the gorilla enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo, where the Inquisitr reported about a young western lowland gorilla being killed last week, found it to be unsafe. A gorilla expert hired by zoo officials said the pen is outdated and needs to be replaced.

Dr. Terry Maple looked into the incident in which Kabibe, a 14-month-old gorilla, was crushed under the weight of a hydraulic door when she darted away from the San Francisco zoo worker who was carrying her. He said although the pen’s doors could be monitored from the main control panel as it is now, it isn’t an easy task and it should be replaced with a state-of-the-art enclosure that uses a portable controller for the doors.

Maple, who is a research professor at Florida Atlantic University, said the death of Kabibe was due in part to human error. As ABC 7 News in San Francisco reported, the doors didn’t malfunction, but it was a failure in following protocol that caused the gorilla’s death. The current system requires two people to monitor the control panel, but at the time of Kabibe’s death, only one person was at the switches.

The young gorilla’s death was heartbreaking for many involved with the San Francisco Zoo’s primate exhibit, but Maple said he has found the animals too smart for their own good at times.

“The technology is definitely outdated. It’s 30 years old,” he said. “The animals are always trying to defeat the system. That’s what they do. They’re smart. They’re strong. They’re playful.”

The San Francisco zoo workers monitoring the enclosure’s doors are supposed to keep one hand on the stop button at all times in order to keep accidents from happening. The probe even found a warning sign found posted near the gorilla door that gave instructions about the current protocol to follow.

The sign at the San Francisco zoo read, “To prevent injuries to the gorillas during operation of the electric doors: Move only one door at a time. Keep your hand on the stop button at all times. Do not leave the electric panel until operation of the door is complete.”

A local news station in San Francisco, NBC Bay Area, found Kabibe’s death isn’t the first incident involve the gorilla enclosure. An incident in July 2012 took place where an adult gorilla had her hand trapped underneath one of the doors, cutting it at the base of her fingers.

In March 2013, the door that crushed Kabibe jammed and had to be pried open with a crowbar. The hydraulic also collapsed unexpectedly earlier this year. Fortunately, none of the San Francisco Zoo’s primates were injured in those incidents.

So far, there is no word if disciplinary measures will be taken against the San Francisco zoo worker who was at the switch at the time of the young gorilla’s death.

[Image via ABC 7 News]