Stephanie Heath
The zoo is all fun and games until the animals try to escape their enclosures and come after you. That is precisely what happened to onlookers at the San Diego Zoo. Startling footage captures the moment that a gorilla begins cracking the glass as it tries to escape its zoo enclosure.
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The Details: A massive gorilla gave people quite the scare at the San Diego Zoo.
- The gorilla in question is Denny, a 10-year-old western lowland gorilla.
- The zoo spoke with the NY Post, confirming the gorilla incident. The animal had somehow shattered one layer of the glass panel in the forest habitat. Fortunately, it was a three-layer tempered glass panel.
- No gorilla or person was harmed in the incident.
Terrifying Footage Shows Gorilla Cracking The Glass
Footage from one of the witnesses of the scene was shared with KTLA 5. In that footage, you can clearly see Denny charging the glass with all of his might. Also, you can hear the loud thud as the collision occurs, and the gorilla is cracking the glass.
Katya Sutil spoke to the news channel, detailing her experience. She was at the zoo celebrating her birthday with her sister when the event occurred. Sutil admitted that she did not see the charge coming because she had been looking down at her phone. However, there was no missing the sound of Denny’s body colliding with the glass.
- “He hit it right with his elbow or his forearm,” Suthil recalled, “right into the glass, directly in front of my face.”
Naturally, the young woman was startled. She described how she jolted back in surprise and then was amazed at the damage left behind.
- “This crack was probably six feet,” she told KTLA 5. “It was pretty big.”
What Caused This Incident?
Sutil admitted that she has gone over the moment in her mind multiple times, pondering if she somehow instigated the attack.
- “Did I look at you weird? Like, did I do something to provoke this somehow?” She wondered.
Despite her fears, it remains unclear what prompted the attack. However, Sutil does offer another potential reason for the seemingly random incident. She suspects that perhaps there was an issue with Denny and his half-brother, who was sharing his enclosure.
- “The two gorillas were kind of going back and forth. They were kind of taunting each other and stomping around. It seemed like there was some tension going on between the two gorillas.”
The San Diego Zoo also spoke out on the matter.
- “It is common for male gorillas, especially in adolescence, to express these types of behaviors,” they said. “Bursts of energy, charging, dragging items, or running sideways are all natural for a young male.”
Experts argued that various factors may have contributed to the outburst. They ranged from a “charging display” in an attempt to show off to Denny grieving over the recent loss of one of his brothers. Perhaps even one of the zoo’s onlookers did something that upset the gorilla.
At this time, the exact reason for the incident is unknown; however, it is certain that no one will forget the gorilla cracking the glass at the San Diego Zoo.
