In a blow to the already critically endangered western lowland gorilla population, a primate was killed in November after being hit by a hydraulic door at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada.
As The New York Times reported, the 2-year-old gorilla named Eyare, who was born to two gorillas at the zoo, was struck when an employee activated the wrong door by mistake as the primate was going through it.
While it was an accident, the incident highlights the importance of taking extreme caution when caring for endangered animals, whether they're in captivity or not.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare reports that experts estimate that 2.7% of the western lowland gorilla population is lost annually. The main threats to their population and to that of the critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla are habitat loss, poaching, and disease.
Protecting these and other endangered animals and helping their populations thrive is vital to stopping them from going extinct, something that is sadly becoming more common as the effects of a rapidly warming planet worsen.
When a species goes extinct, it causes a ripple effect through ecosystems, harming them and threatening the communities that rely on them.
Many zoos support conservation efforts by breeding near-extinct species in captivity and eventually releasing them into the wild to rebuild the population. For example, a rare black rhino and Philippine spotted deer were born at Chester Zoo in England, and a rare African bontebok calf was born at Oregon Zoo.
Calgary Zoo is an accredited conservation zoo and participates in Species Survival Plans "to manage and conserve endangered or threatened species in zoos and aquariums."
According to the Times, the zoo is taking steps to avoid repeats of what happened to Eyare, including assessing and redesigning the door levers so staff can more easily identify which door they control, and additional training for staff members.
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Eyare's death was understandably devastating to both zoo employees and members of the community.
"I say goodbye to animals on a regular basis because they are aging out, or they're geriatric," said Colleen Baird, the zoo's director of animal care, per the Times. "This one hurts. This one is not planned. This one is a mistake."
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