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San Francisco Zoo Hires Expert To Investigation Baby Gorilla's Death

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Zoo has hired an expert in gorilla enclosures to help investigate the death of its young western lowland gorilla, Kabibe.

Kabibe was crushed by a hydraulic door on Friday when she unexpectedly darted under it while it was closing.

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The San Francisco Examiner reports that the zoo is bringing in animal psychologist Terry Maple, who has redesigned gorilla enclosures at other zoos and was hired by the San Francisco Zoo in 2012 to upgrade animal enclosures with a focus on the animals' mental well-being.

Zoo officials have said the door that killed Kabibe had a manual off-switch, but workers did not get to it quickly enough. The accident occurred while Kabibe and other animals were being moved into their nighttime enclosures.

 

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