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["Andrew Hund" <axh69 AT po.cwru.edu>]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/06/18/leaping.gorilla.ap/index.html

Friday, June 18, 2004 Posted: 10:12 PM EDT (0212 GMT)

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A cheetah could do it. So could a chimpanzee. But no
one expected a stocky, knuckle-dragging 153-kilogram (340-pound) gorilla to
leap across a 3.5-meter (12-foot) -wide moat and a wall that separated him
from visitors at the Dallas Zoo.
But zoo investigators say that is exactly what happened the day 13-year-old
Jabari escaped and went on a 40-minute rampage in March, snatching up a
toddler with his teeth and injuring three other people before being shot to
death by officers.

The gorilla's flying leap has astounded primate experts and is leading some
to rethink the design of the gorilla exhibits at zoos in the United States.

"All it does is give you pause and you think, 'This may be one championship
gorilla here, but I've got to be careful because maybe I've got one too,"'
said Terry L. Maple, former director of Zoo Atlanta for 17 years, who has
written about gorilla behavior.

At the Dallas Zoo, animals in the gorilla enclosure are roughly at visitors'
eye level. Zoo officials who conducted a three-month investigation announced
this week that they believe Jabari got a running start and sailed over the
trench, clearing the four-meter (14-foot) wall and an electrical wire atop
it that is supposed to give a mild shock.

Some experts speculate Jabari may have been doing a "display run," a showy
charge that younger males perform for females or other audiences. Others say
he could have been motivated by fear, anger or desire to breed.

Dallas Zoo officials believe he leaped because they could not find evidence
of human error, such as open doors, or any objects that could have aided his
escape. But zoo director Rich Buickerood acknowledged: "We still have not
had anyone come forward yet to say they actually witnessed the event."

As a result, some experts are a bit skeptical that the gorilla made such a
leap.

Whatever happened, Jabari's escape moved the zoo to renovate the exhibit
where younger gorillas stay, raising the walls to at least 4.5 meters (15
feet), adding "gorilla speed bumps" to break up long, flat stretches, and
installing "hot vines," electric wires that resemble plants.

"Everybody who knows anything about gorillas is concerned about this, and
everybody should be re-evaluating their safety mechanisms as we speak,"
Maple said.

Before Jabari's escape, a 3.5-meter (12-foot) wide moat was considered an
adequate barrier, said Dan Wharton, director of the Central Park Zoo and
chairman of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Gorilla Species
Survival Plan.

Gorillas -- though powerful, quick, agile in the trees and believed by some
experts to be as intelligent as chimpanzees -- are heavy-boned and were
thought to lack the ability to leap long distances.

"I think we probably have underestimated the ability of these animals,"
Maple said. "I'm not saying he did it, but if he did do it, it was a
tremendous feat of athleticism that heretofore was not known to this
species."

Wharton said he has not yet seen the zoo's review of the incident, but he
and other officials plan to study it to determine whether the association
should change exhibit guidelines for accredited zoos.

Karen Killmar, associate curator of mammals at the San Diego Zoo, said zoos
will adapt to whatever changes are ordered. She noted that change is part of
the game in keeping wild animals.

"The one thing in this business: You never say it's impossible," Killmar
said. "Just about the time you say, 'No, an animal can't do that,' it'll
happen."



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