USA: No Case To Answer,Prosecutor Says Against Mother Of Baby In Cincinnati Gorilla Case

No criminal charges will be filed against the mother of the three-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, causing zookeepers to kill an endangered gorilla to protect the child, an Ohio prosecutor said on Monday.

A 17-year-old endangered western lowland silverback gorilla named Harambe was shot by zoo staff in the minutes after the boy fell on May 28, touching off a storm of criticism aimed at both the zoo and the boy's mother. Some critics had called for criminal charges against the mother, who was with the boy at the zoo, for reckless endangerment.

Police and prosecutors did not provide the name of the mother, but multiple media reports identified her as 32-year-old Michelle Gregg, who works as a preschool administrator. The boy suffered a concussion and some scrapes but escaped serious injury. The family previously said it does not intend to sue the zoo.

"I am very sorry about the loss of this gorilla but nothing about this situation rises to the level of a criminal charge," Hamilton County prosecutor Joseph Deters said on Monday. "Had she been in the bathroom smoking crack and let her kids run around the zoo that'd be a different story," he told reporters on Monday. "She was attending to her children by all witness accounts and the 3-year-old just scampered off."

He said the mother, according to witnesses, never placed her son in danger and only turned away for a few seconds to deal with another child. "If anyone doesn't believe a 3-year-old can scamper off very quickly, they've never had kids because they can and they do," he added.

Deters also said he was glad the zoo had changed the gorilla enclosure to prevent a repeat of the incident. It will reopen Tuesday with a higher barrier and added knotted rope netting. The family was pleased with the prosecutor's decision. "This is one more step in allowing us to put this tragic episode behind us and return to our normal family life," the family said in a statement.

The boy was at the zoo with his mother, three sisters, ages 7, 4 and 1, and family friends when he climbed over a three-foot barrier and fell 15 feet into a moat, according to the Hamilton County prosecutor's office and witnesses. The gorilla dragged the child through the enclosure before zoo officials shot him.

USA: Mourning Harambe, The Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla Who Was Killed In Cold Blood

Harambe, a 17-year-old male lowland gorilla, was shot dead Saturday at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Zoo officials made the decision to fatally shoot the gorilla after a 3-year-old child fell into the gorilla’s enclosure.

Known by zoo employees as “Handsome Harambe,” the silverback came to Cincinnati in September, 2014.

He was born May 27, 1999, at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.

Harambe’s former zoo keeper said everyone who raised the gorilla is deeply hurt and affected by his death.

"He always had a little bit of a flair about him. He was not mean, he was a gentle little guy,” said Jerry Stones, Harabe’s former caretaker. “He grew up to be a beautiful, beautiful animal. He was never aggressive, never mean. He would tease the heck out of people.”

The gorilla was sent to the Cincinnati Zoo as part of western lowland gorilla species survival plan for breeding. Cincinnati Zoo Officials said he was key player in the zoo’s captive breeding and conservation efforts.

The 450-pound silverback gorilla had just celebrated his 17th birthday the day before he was shot.

“It is a big loss to the Cincinnati Zoo, Harambe was one of our most magnificent animals, he’s a critically endangered species,” said Thane Maynard, director of the Cincinnati Zoo.

Harambe's death is not the end of his gene pool. Zoo officials said reproductive biologists saved his sperm for future breeding.