Baby Gorilla Dies in Tragic Zoo Accident
Little Kabibe was killed by a hydraulic door.
— -- A baby gorilla was crushed to death in an accident at the San Francisco this weekend, zoo officials said.
Young Kabibe, a female gorilla, was being put to bed Friday night when she darted away and was killed by a closing hydraulic door, the zoo told ABC's San Francisco station KGO-TV.
"This type of accident is extremely rare and the zoo wishes to assure the public that all animal care protocol at the facility is specifically designed with animal safety as the top priority," the zoo said in a statement, according to KGO.
Kabibe, one of the zoo's stars, celebrated her first birthday with a party this summer.
Families visiting the zoo were sad to hear the news this weekend.
"Annabel, my daughter, was all excited about seeing the gorillas and we didn't see any," zoo visitor Elizabeth Hackett told KGO.
Kabibe is only the San Francisco Zoo's latest victim. A squirrel monkey named Banana Sam died last year from heart disease complications, and in 2007, a Siberian tiger named Tatiana escaped her enclosure and killed one person before she was fatally shot by police officers.
The zoo said it is still investigating the most recent accident.