WI: CHILD ENTERS MILWAUKEE ZOO HABITAT
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MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — A child entered an animal habitat at the Milwaukee County Zoo on Monday, Aug. 24, prompting staff to activate emergency protocols in the African Savanna Yard.
The zoo says a staff member saw the child inside the habitat and radioed for help.
“We have staff all out in the park,” said Tracey Dolphin, director of animal management and health for the Milwaukee County Zoo. “Seeing a guest in an animal’s habitat is not normal, so once that person realized that, they radioed and that impacted our emergency protocols.”
Those protocols included getting guests out of the area and moving the animals off the habitat.
Alleged cellphone video shared online appears to show the child chasing a bird before a relative climbs into the habitat and helps the child out using a ladder.
The zoo says pelicans, vultures, southern ground hornbills and gazelles are among the animals that call the African Savanna Yard home.
Dolphin said guests should stay behind the railings and respect the animals and their space.
“Staying behind the railing and looking at the animals, being respectful,” she said. “We have to remember that these are the animals’ homes and it takes all of us to be respectful towards our animals.”
The zoo says the animals in the habitat are not considered dangerous. Dolphin said, however, that any interaction with animals carries a potential risk.
“With any animals, there is always a potential that there could be an injury,” she said.
The zoo is still investigating what happened and how the child got into the habitat.
No people or animals were injured.
“We want to make sure that everyone is coming out to have a safe experience at the zoo and a safe experience for our animals,” Dolphin said.
The zoo has not decided whether there will be any repercussions for the family because the investigation is ongoing.
A man claiming to be the child’s father released the following statement Tuesday evening:
“Here is our family’s only statement and we wish to remain anonymous:
First we want to thank the zoo’s security staff (Particularly Jeff) for their prompt and professional help as well as fantastic follow up after the incident to make sure my son was ok.
We regret the incident that took place at the zoo yesterday. Our son is severely autistic, non verbal, and is also diagnosed with ADHD and epilepsy. Animals are his obsessions and The zoo is likely his most favorite place on earth. we as annual zoo pass holders visited dozens of times in his 13 years of life without incident.
While my wife and I were at work his caretaker and grandmother decided to take him for a nice day at the zoo, and as any parent of autism can attest, we were so grateful for the help. He had a great day without incident then at the very last moment and without warning he was able to break away from his grandmother and jumped into the exhibit with the hornbills. He proceeded to chase them for approximately 30 seconds or so as his grandmother figured out how to get into the exhibit to help him. She was eventually able to get him out with the help of some fellow zoo goers and security staff.
We are animal lovers and are relieved that the animals were not hurt during the incident. I have personally reached out to the director of operations of the zoo as of this morning to personally apologize and see if there is any way we can help or make amends. In the time since the videos were posted, i responded to one of them trying to explain the situation and have since received messages wishing harm and death upon my son and my family.
While we understand how upsetting it is, we do ask for some patience, empathy and understanding for our son. He adores animals and would never do serious harm to them. It’s apparent he didn’t fully understand his actions and his impulses took over. We don’t use this as justification, we just ask for some grace as we move forward to make things right.”
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