LA Zoo Employee Hurt After Falling Into Gorilla Enclosure
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — A Los Angeles Zoo employee was injured Thursday after falling into the zoo's gorilla enclosure, authorities said.
Fire crews responded to the park at 5333 West Zoo Drive around 8:30 a.m., according to LAFD spokesperson Margaret Stewart.
The employee lost his footing on a planter and fell 15 to 20 feet into the moat, zoo officials said.
The worker was strapped to a backboard and lifted up. Officials say the employee remained conscious during the incident, and was rescued out
of the moat using "ladders, ropes and a litter."
He was taken to a hospital in fair condition for treatment of a possible broken leg, Stewart said.
It wasn't immediately known how the employee lost his footing and fell.
The exhibit is home to Western Lowland Gorillas. Zoo officials say at the time of the incident, the four gorillas living in the habitat were "still secure in their night quarters behind the scenes."
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