African painted dogs kill young boy at Pittsburgh Zoo

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium president Barbara Baker as saying the child, aged about three years old, was with his mother and friends when he fell about 4.5 metres off a deck - and over railing and a mesh barrier - into an exhibit of African painted dogs. When the boy fell, visitors immediately told staff members, who responded along with Pittsburgh police. Zookeepers called off the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. Three more eventually were drawn away from the boy, but the last dog wouldn't come into the building, and police had to shoot him,.A 2-year-old boy was mauled to death after he fell into the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, today, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh Police Lt. Kevin Kraus said the boy's mother had placed the child on top of a wooden railing overlooking the enclosure. The child fell off the wooden railing and off of a mesh barrier where the painted dogs were on display. Lt. Kraus said: "Almost immediately after that he lost his balance, fell down off the railing into the actual pit and he was immediately attacked by 11 dogs."The incident occurred at 11:48 a.m. at the Highland Park complex, according to an emergency dispatch supervisor. The zoo was shut down within a half-hour of the incident and will remain closed indefinitely.A group of African painted dogs killed a boy who fell into their exhibit today at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Barbara Baker, the zoo's president, said the child was around 3 years old. He "fell off an observation deck that's about 14 feet above the exhibit," she said, "and was killed by the dogs." "Our emergency teams and our Pittsburgh police responded immediately, but there wasn’t anything that could be done," added Baker.