Exotic Incident #1870

Result:

Summary:

A 2-year old child was killed by African Painted Dogs when he fell into their enclosure at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The toddler’s mother had lifted him in a standing position on the 4-foot wall that overlooks the enclosure when somehow toppled over falling into the enclosure where he was set upon by the dogs. One dog was shot and killed, and the others were able to be corralled. The incident is under investigation.

The same dogs had escaped their enclosure on May 5, 2012 into a “backup yard” not visible to the public, but the zoo claims the public was not at danger.