Vet accidentally darts zoo worker
The zoo has denied reports that the keeper was dressed as a gorilla.
A zoo worker has been hospitalised in Tenerife after being accidentally shot with a tranquilliser dart meant for a 200kg gorilla.
A gorilla escape drill was being carried out at the Loro Park Zoo last week, when a vet darted the 35-year-old zoo worker in the leg by mistake.
Initial reports in a local Spanish paper suggested the keeper was dressed in a gorilla suit at the time. It was widely reported in the press that the vet was not informed of the escape drill and confused the man with a real gorilla.
A spokesperson has since denied the reports, saying the dart simply fired accidentally.
"He was not disguised as a gorilla and was not wearing a hairy costume, and the vet did not get confused. It is impossible to confuse a gorilla with a human," Patricia Delponti told the Guardian.
The zoo worker was treated at the Tenerife University Hospital and is said to have made a full recovery.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
