2-Year-Old Gorilla Dies After Being Struck by Hydraulic Door at Zoo

A 2-year-old gorilla died of traumatic injuries last week at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada, after being struck by a hydraulic door that a staff member mistakenly activated, according to the zoo.

The western lowland gorilla, named Eyare, who was the offspring of gorillas at the zoo, had been interacting with other gorillas on Nov. 12 in an enclosure where they are fed, observed and trained outside their habitat.

A staff member was trying to separate Eyare, who weighed about 30 pounds, from the other gorillas for a vaccination training session.

“A team member intended to activate a door that they were looking at, but accidentally used the control lever for a different door,” Colleen Baird, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in an interview on Saturday. “And as that door was closing, Eyare was passing through, and she was struck by it.”

Teams attempted lifesaving measures, but Eyare died shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Ms. Baird said that the staff member operating the door was “devastated,” and that the person was immediately removed from the workplace. The staff member was not a new employee, and was comfortable working with gorillas, Ms. Baird said.

The staff member will undergo additional training before returning to work in that area of the zoo, which is home to six other western lowland gorillas.