Personal Injury Blog

Court Rules Dallas City Can Be Sued for Gorilla Attack

April 25th, 2008

When Jabari, the 13-year-old 340-pound gorilla at the Dallas Zoo, executed a flying leap that landed him out of his enclosure and right into a bunch of terrified visitors, it was the wildest thing people at the Wilds of Africa exhibit at the zoo had seen. The gorilla went on a rampage, picking a toddler up with his teeth and then biting him. It also attacked another woman and her child. In all, the gorilla rampage injured four visitors to the zoo who had been unfortunate enough to be outside his enclosure that particular day. The pandemonium continued for a few minutes before zoo security keepers shot the animal dead.

Now, a Dallas court has ruled that the city can’t be given immunity in lawsuits bought by the victims of the gorilla attack. The lawsuit had alleged, among other things, that the city neglected to provide adequate confinement of gorillas and provided an “unreasonable risk of escape.” The victims, 3-year-old Rivers Noah and his mother, Keish Heard, were among those who were injured in the attack. River was admitted to hospital with lacerations and bite injuries on his head and chest. His mother was bitten on the legs. Another woman and child were also injured.

The victims say their medical bills after the rampage cost them tens of thousands of dollars, and are seeking compensation for these expenses, as well as the trauma they suffered at the time of the attack. In a case like this, it’s easy to believe that the emotional suffering and trauma on being attacked by an angry animal must have been worse than the physical scars.

The zoo had its own way of dealing with the attack. Officials claim that the leap from his enclosure was a one in a million occurrence. That doesn’t absolve them of any responsibility. This wasn’t a genetically modified gorilla. This was a normal sized gorilla for his species, that’s found in zoos across the world. When you decide to keep an animal of that size in your zoo, you better be aware of what makes him irritated or angry enough to fly over a12 foot leap. A “one in a million” type defense is not easy to stomach.

The possibility of human error too has not been ruled out. Investigators say they found no sign of any human interference in the security doors and other mechanisms, but animal experts have voiced their skepticism that a gorilla could leap across a 12-foot moat or scale a 15-foot wall.

Regardless of whether it was human error or a leap, there’s no doubt that the zoo and the city are still liable, and we hope the victims receive compensation for their suffering and losses.

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