The death of a 2-year-old western lowland gorilla at a Canadian zoo earlier this month was found to be the result of human error, the zoo announced.
The female gorilla, Eyare, had been roaming between different rooms in the zoo's gorilla enclosure on Nov. 12 when a member of her care team activated a hydraulic door, Colleen Baird, director of animal care, health and welfare at the Calgary Zoo, said in a Wednesday statement.
The care team member — intending to separate Eyare from other gorillas for an individual training session — accidentally activated the wrong door, striking the young gorilla, who sustained traumatic head injuries. Despite the zoo's veterinary team immediately commencing lifesaving measures, Eyare died from her injuries, Baird said.
The zoo said that they immediately launched a formal investigation into Eyare's death and removed the gorilla care team member responsible from the workplace following the incident. That member will be "reassigned to another area of the zoo and will undergo further staff training for that area."
"This tragedy has struck us all in the deepest way imaginable," said Baird. "Eyare’s short but impactful life brought so much joy to our community, and she will be deeply missed by all. We will do everything we can to prevent future incidents."
Some of the preventative actions the zoo will be taking include: Mandating that the gorilla care team participate in specialized recurrent training in operating hydraulic doors; training the gorillas to maintain a safe distance from doors during movement times; and implementing changes to improve staff ability to confirm what animal door they are moving, according to the release.
The zoo said they are also exploring the idea of transitioning to alternative door and control designs, instead of continuing to use hydraulic doors.
Of the 4,000 animals the zoo cares for, six are western lowland gorillas. The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has only had one other human-caused animal mortality over the last ten years: a North American river otter in 2016, the release said.
