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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/271/region/Gorilla_escapes_from_city_zoo_:.shtml

Gorilla Escapes From City Zoo, Injuring Toddler

By Mark Pratt, Associated Press, 9/28/2003 23:18

BOSTON (AP) A restless gorilla broke out of its enclosure at the Franklin Park Zoo on Sunday evening, injuring a 2-year-old girl and a teenager before it was sedated and recaptured almost two hours later, according to zoo officials.

The gorilla known as ''Little Joe'' broke out of his enclosure at about 6 p.m., minutes before the zoo was scheduled to close, and roamed through the park and along nearby streets until about 7:40 p.m., when he was sedated with tranquilizer darts, according to Zoo New England CEO and President John Linehan.

The gorilla, who had broken out of the same pen just last month, injured the child and an 18-year-old woman almost immediately after escaping, Linehan said.

''We've had a very difficult evening, and we feel very badly about the adult and young child injured. We don't know the extent of their injuries, but we think they'll be OK,'' he said.

According to broadcast reports, the 18-year-old woman worked at the zoo and was taking her friend's little sister for an outing when Little Joe escaped. Dale McNeil, the toddler's godmother, said the gorilla snatched the child, threw her to the ground and jumped on her.

''It just makes me feel really, really upset that they allowed this to happen again. This little girl could have died,'' she said.

Neither zoo officials nor Boston Police could provide any information on the injuries.

The 5-foot, 300-pound adolescent gorilla escaped from its section of the Tropical Forest exhibit in August. That time, it never left the exhibit grounds.

Zoo officials installed electrified wires to keep the nearly 11-year-old primate from escaping again, but he managed to get out on Sunday and leave not just the exhibit, but the grounds of the zoo.

Little Joe stayed mostly within heavily wooded areas in the park, Linehan said, and was captured near a football stadium close to the zoo. After his capture, Little Joe was taken to a secure holding area.

''Needless to say, until further notice, he is not going to be on exhibit,'' Linehan said.

Officials did not know exactly how he escaped.

''There's a lot we have to find out, and we'll be reviewing what happened tomorrow,'' Linehan said.

When Little Joe escaped in August by scaling a 12-foot-wide, 12-foot-deep moat that separates his enclosure from the public, it was the first escape by a gorilla in the zoo's history.

The nationwide population of gorillas has grown 38 percent since the 1980s, from 270 to 375. The Franklin Park Zoo, which has six gorillas, has acquired three male gorillas since 1998.

Young male gorillas like Little Joe, who was born in captivity, pose difficult problems because of their agility and restlessness, according to Linehan.

''They go through a stage where, physically and psychologically, they're growing much stronger, and become much more lean and long, and containment can be an increasing challenge at that age. They can do things that they can't do when they're younger or older,'' he said.

In the wild, adolescent male gorillas often leave the family unit to live alone or with other bachelors, Linehan said, comparing them to teenage boys.

Zoo veterinarian Hayley Weston said it took a substantial amount of tranquilizers to sedate Little Joe, which was not unexpected, given that he was probably excited and in an unfamiliar environment.

''That's fairly typical for a situation like this,'' she said.

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