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Boy who got into gorilla enclosure 'doing well'

 
A June 20, 2015 photo provided by the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden shows Harambe, a western lowland gorilla, who was fatally shot Saturday to protect a 4-year-old boy who had entered its exhibit. [Associated Press]
A June 20, 2015 photo provided by the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden shows Harambe, a western lowland gorilla, who was fatally shot Saturday to protect a 4-year-old boy who had entered its exhibit. [Associated Press]
Published June 1, 2016

CINCINNATI — The family of the 3-year-old boy who got into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo says he is "still doing well."

The family released a statement Wednesday morning through a representative saying he just had a checkup by his doctor. They say they continue to "praise God," and are thankful to the zoo for "their actions taken to protect our child."

Zoo staffers shot and killed the endangered 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named Harambe on Saturday after concluding the boy's life was in danger.

The family expresses thanks to those expressing concern and support. It says some people have offered money and they recommend a donation to the Cincinnati Zoo in Harambe's name.

Spokeswoman Gail Myers says they have no comment on a Cincinnati police investigation into their actions.

While police in Cincinnati are investigating the child's parents and federal inspectors plan their own review, zoo officials say they will look at whether it needs to reinforce the barriers even though it considers the enclosure more secure than what's required.

"The exhibit is safe, the barrier is safe," said zoo director Thane Maynard, who noted the exhibit is routinely checked by federal inspectors and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which also plans to investigate what happened.

The breach, the zoo director said, was the first time a visitor had entered the zoo's Gorilla World, which opened in 1978 and was billed as the first "bar-less" outdoor gorilla habitat in the nation.