Move Over Roy Horn!

Gorilla attacks Lincoln Park zoo keeper
By Melanie Coffee
Associated Press Writer
July 5, 2005, 5:40 PM CDT
A gorilla bit a Lincoln Park Zoo keeper on the back Tuesday, the latest incident at the facility already tainted by a series of recent animal deaths.
The 32-year-old female worker suffered a small puncture wound and a sprained ankle during the attack, which happened about 10 a.m. while she was working in the outdoor gorilla habitat at the North Side zoo, officials there said.
The zoo said in a statement that a male gorilla named Kwan shoved the keeper down and bit her. She was treated and released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The zoo determined the attack was due to human error and officials were discussing disciplinary action. Zoo spokeswoman Kelly McGrath would not elaborate.
Zoo visitors were never in danger.
"We are relieved that no one -- human or gorilla -- was badly injured,'' zoo curator Robyn Barbiers said in a statement. "Kwan's aim was certainly not to hurt the employee, but to clearly illustrate his dominance.''
The incident comes less than a year after two lions mauled a zoo keeper last September, injuring her head, neck and arms. An investigation by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration later found that zoo keeper Nancy DeFiesta forgot she let two lions into the zoo yard before she entered it to give the cats fresh water.
The zoo came under further scrutiny when an elephant died there in October of a disease similar to tuberculosis and another died in January from a variety of ailments common to older elephants. Zoo officials then moved the only remaining elephant to Salt Lake City because the animals require companionship. That elephant's health declined during the trip and it was euthanized a short time later in early May.
In December, a camel died and federal officials are investigating that death. The zoo has said it was likely because of a gastrointestinal disease.
In February, the first gorilla ever born at the zoo died after her health deteriorated, and in April a second gorilla was euthanized because of an unknown disease.
Then in May, three Francois langur monkeys died soon after they were moved into a new exhibit.
Soon after, zoo president Kevin Bell offered his resignation, but the board refused to accept it.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which inspects zoos, is investigating whether the facility has violated the Animal Welfare Act because of the spate of animal deaths.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which accredits U.S. zoos, finished its review in June of Lincoln Park's animal care practices. An association spokeswoman did not have the results of that report. McGrath said she did not know whether the zoo's board had received the report.
The zoo, established in 1868, is open year-round and is one of the few free zoos operating in the United States.