The dogs hunt in packs in the wild, and Baker said that they “were in pack mentality” during the attack. They have large ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered. African wild dogs are also known as cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs and painted wolves. The dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, 2 to 2½ feet high and 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. The boy’s father arrived on the scene soon after the accident, police said. A young boy has been killed at Pittsburgh zoo after he fell into an enclosure holding African wild dogs and was attacked by a pack of the animals. The zoo was immediately closed it was not clear when it would be reopened, authorities said.Īuthorities didn’t immediately release the name of the boy or his mother, but say she is 34 years old and lives in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. Three more eventually were drawn away from the child, but the last dog was aggressive and police had to shoot the animal, officials say. 'He gives me a sense of calm that Ive never really had the last 13 years,' retired Sergeant Major. Bushs Service Dog Changed His Life in 8 Weeks. Zookeepers called off some of the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. Veteran Shares How Canine Related to George H.W.
When the boy fell, other visitors immediately told staff members, who responded along with Pittsburgh police. Zoo officials at first estimated the boy fell 14 feet (four metres), but police said it was 11. “It was very horrific,” said Lieutenant Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police, who added that the dogs attacked “immediately” after the boy fell at about 11:45 a.m. It was not clear whether the boy died from the fall into the wild dog exhibit area or from the attack, said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. A two-year-old boy visiting the Pittsburgh zoo was killed Sunday morning when he fell off a railing that his mother had put him on to view a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the child and mauled him, police said.
Calls to the Derkosh family's attorney were not immediately returned.PITTSBURGH, PA. The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium says the mother of a 2-year-old boy who was fatally mauled when he fell into a wild African dogs exhibit is to blame for her son's death and shouldn't be allowed. The exhibit displaying the wild dogs, which are an endangered species and native to sub-Saharan Africa, was shuttered shortly after. The observation deck was removed about a month after the mauling. It also denied claims it lacked an emergency plan at the time of the incident. The zoo also said the railing surrounding the enclosure complied with building and safety codes. In the months following the lawsuit filing, the zoo denied claims that officials had fair warning that parents regularly lifted their children onto the unprotected area overlooking the wild dogs exhibit and did nothing to protect them. The boy's organs were destroyed and he suffered more than 46 wounds to his head and neck, the lawsuit said.
Elizabeth Derkosh tried to climb into the exhibit to save her only child but was restrained by another visitor. Maddox, who had been lifted up to the window by his mother, lurched forward and fell over the exhibit railing. The parents claimed that the exhibit had an observation deck with an open and ill-protected window overlooking the roaming animals. Maddox's parents, Jason and Elizabeth Derkosh, filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in 2013, seeking a minimum of $300,000. "The Derkosh family and the zoo request that the privacy of all parties involved be respected," the statement said. Details of the agreement will remain confidential, according to a statement from the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.
Maddox Derkosh was fatally attacked at an African wild dog exhibit in November 2012, when he fell into the enclosure from an area where his mother had lifted him to get a better view. By Laila Kearney (Reuters) - The family of a 2-year-old boy who was mauled to death by African wild dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo have reached a legal settlement with the institution, officials said on Monday.
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