1912 - 2002
Franklin Park Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the U.S. The 72-acre site has such exotic animals as western lowland gorillas,
a white tiger, and a herd of Grevy's zebras, however bears no longer reside at this zoo.
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Franklin Park gorilla escapes, attacks 2
In his second escape in two months, a 300-pound gorilla stormed out of the Franklin Park Zoo last night, attackinga 2-year-old girl and an off-duty zoo employee and leading authorities on a massive chase through darkened woods
and along a nearby street until his capture nearly 2 hours.
Both humans survived the ordeal. The 5-foot adolescent male gorilla,
known as Little Joe, was shot at least four
times with tranquilizer
darts as a cordon of authorities used noise to try to drive him back
toward the zoo. The animal,
described as nervous outside his enclosure
and energized by adrenaline, eluded authorities despite the initial
shots
of sedatives, drawing large crowds of curious spectators and even
pausing for a rest at a bus stop.
More than 50 officials from
Boston police, State Police, environmental police, the zoo, and the
Animal
Rescue League swarmed the area around the zoo, closing Blue Hill
Avenue and all streets into Franklin Park. As
the gorilla prowled the
edge of the park, a police dispatcher was heard warning officers to
"kill the lights"
of their cruisers to avoid attracting the animal.
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