across Texas tonight a video taken at the Fort Worth Zoo is going viral it shows two zookeepers trapped in a gorilla enclosure as you can see here as reporter Janelle Forte eventually discovered the actual incident happened a while ago I think she doesn't know tense moments captured at the Fort Worth Zoo show Elmo the zoo's 34-year-old silver bat gorilla baring toward zookeepers video posted to TiK ToK by Ben White an ex Zoo security officer I was the the first responding officer the video is mo
nths old so it was taken on October 20th but white just posted it Thursday night I was actually just going through my camera roll and saw that I had it in a matter of hours it's been viewed more than 21 million times it's about 2 minutes of interaction between the keepers and the animal and it took us about that long for a response in the video you'll see the first keeper throwing a bucket and then running inside uh she'll keep the door open for a little bit uh kind of crack you'll also see her
on our radio radioing us radioing other Keepers then things come for a while get the kids away and then you see Elmo run around and you see the second zookeeper she stries to distract him hides behind the tree plays like a really fun game of hide-and-seek and then runs inside after throwing the bucket and then at the end of the video you see the gorilla actually with the bucket like hey you forgot the bucket throughout you can hear the fear from those visiting the zoo as they make calls for help
and even pray oh my gosh thank you Lord ultimately no one was hurt we made sure that the animal was secured and then the Keepers were okay the zoo sent this statement about what went wrong that day saying in part due to keeper error staff entered the yard unaware that the silver back was still in its habitat and say the video was proof The Zookeeper knowledge and expertise helped them safely navigate this scary situation oh my gosh God help her God help her God help her in Fort God help her I'm
Janelle fort
Comments
Dude all casual like "oh ya, i forgot i had video of 2 people getting chased by a 500 pound gorilla". How you forget that?
This error could have cost the life of the zookeeper and the gorilla's.
Them prayer warriors wasn’t playing Amen 🙏🏼 🙌🏼
That must be scary being locked in there with such a dangerous species. I hope the Gorilla was ok.
I think the big guy was thinking hey there's a cutie.. But seriously I'm glad both parties are OK...hope the zookeeper has no,nightmares
The gorilla was like, hey man I just wanted to see what munchies you had in the bucket.
He wasn't going to hurt them. He was was just as confused as they were.
I think he was mad about being called Elmo.
*1:25 Elmo, "Come get yo' bucket!" 😂😂 I will laugh at the ending, knowing everybody was safe, to include Elmo AND Elmo's seeming curiosity as to why they stopped playing the game and left their bucket. 😂😂 Elmo just wanted to play. 😂😅
Of course the Gorilla is going to be startled, they aren't used to humans invading their space. He wasn't trying to hurt them,he was standing his ground and protecting his troop from possible harm. Gorillas really aren't as vicious as people think. As long as they have food to eat and their troop isn't in harms way, they're happy. Chimpanzees are a completely different story.
team: Elmo gorilla
That mighty majestic silverback knows where the food comes from, the keepers.
Gorillas are not aggressive at all unless feeling threatened. I am glad everyone was safe!
My boy didnt want to end up like harambe
God sure did help her. HalleluYah❤ Thank God Almighty that someone was there interceding for the women in prayer. 🙏
Thank God that awesome animal didn't have to get shot! I'll bet the gorilla was more surprised than anything. Let's also give serious kudos to the praying girl asking God to help her. ❤
Love how people start to pray as if that’s going to do something…
Elmo knows these keepers. I highly doubt he was going to hurt them. He probably thought they had food and was happy to see them. He kept a good distance from them.
He wouldn't have hurt them because he knew they weren't a threat. He may have thought it was a game ... pass the bucket.
I'm just glad the gorilla is still alive and not put down like you know who when the other gorilla never harmed the child.