Feds: Barrier to gorilla exhibit entered by boy ineffective

CINCINNATI (AP) — Federal inspectors concluded that the Cincinnati Zoo's barrier to keep the public and gorillas separate wasn't in compliance with standards for housing primates when a 3-year-old boy slipped into their exhibit, resulting in the shooting death of an endangered gorilla named Harambe.

The U.S. Agriculture Department inspection report, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, also stated that the zoo's dangerous-animal response team properly followed procedures after visitors called 911 on May 28 to report a child in the gorilla enclosure.

The death of the 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla led to mourning around the globe and a storm of criticism and unending social media attention.

"The DART team member determined the child's life to be in imminent, life-threatening danger and shot the gorilla with a single gunshot and the gorilla died instantly," the report stated.

Animal rights activists and other gorilla fans expressed anger at Harambe's death, and it became the subject of countless memes and popular culture references.