SAN DIEGO — A gorilla at the San Diego Zoo broke a glass panel at his enclosure over the weekend, zoo officials said this week, frightening guests who were observing the apes.
Ten-year-old Denny broke one of three layers of protective glass at the zoo's Lost Forest gorilla habitat Saturday, the zoo said in an updated statement Tuesday.
"It is common for male gorillas, especially in adolescence, to express these types of behaviors," it said. "Bursts of energy, charging, dragging items, or running sideways are all natural for a young male.”
The zoo said the breached panel was composed of three layers of tempered glass.
No injuries were reported, including for the western lowland gorilla. The zoo said in an earlier statement that Denny and another gorilla will be cared for "behind the scenes" until the panel is replaced.
NBC San Diego reported that the panel was boarded up Monday and public viewing was closed. Zoo officials did not respond to a question about when gorilla viewing might reopen.
In August, the zoo said Denny's older brother, 30-year-old Maka, had died after a cardiac event, according to the station. Upon his birthday in 2017, the zoo said Denny was named for philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, who funded the San Diego Zoo Kids television channel.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare characterizes western lowland gorillas, the smallest of the species, as critically endangered because they lose an estimated 2.7% of their population in their home region of Central Africa every year.
Their main killers are loss of habitat, poaching and disease, according to the nonprofit fund.
