A 4-year-old boy escaped with serious -- albeit non-life-threatening -- injuries Saturday after he crawled through a barrier at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and into a gorilla enclosure, where he was picked up by a 400-pound, 17-year-old male gorilla, the zoo said.
After the boy -- who has not been identified -- crawled through a public barrier at Gorilla World around 4 p.m., he fell about 10 to 12 feet into a moat, where he was picked up and carried around by the gorilla, named Harambe, for about 10 minutes, the zoo's director, Thane Maynard, said.
A Cincinnati Zoo employee shot the gorilla when the child was in between his legs, and zoo employees then unlocked the gate and two firefighters quickly retrieved the child.
Once the child was in a safe area, he was given a full trauma assessment, and then transported to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, District Fire Chief Marc Monahan said.
The hospital is not releasing details on his condition, but police said the boy's injuries were non-life-threatening, according to ABC affiliate WCPO.