It’s not exactly spreadsheet horrors, but one zoo employee had a day to remember when he was shot by a tranquilliser at work on Monday.
The 35-year old was dressed as a gorilla during a routine animal escape drill, when a vet mistook him for one of the caged habitants at Loro Parque Zoo in Tenerife.
The drill, designed to ensure the zoo has an emergency plan in case one of the gorillas escape the enclosure, had not warned the vet this was a routine exercise who believed a gorilla was now on the loose.
The vet fired the shot hitting the employee in the leg. The tranquilliser used is designed at taking down a 400lb gorilla.
According to La Opinión de Tenerife newspaper, the employee was located in his underwear and taken to the University Hospital of the Canary Islands.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for the zoo said:
‘Last Monday, Loro Parque simulated the escape of an animal from its enclosure in the gorilla park. As part of the simulation, which took place in the security zone of the area and was attended only by authorised personnel, they set off the emergency alarm.
“Once they had carried out the various procedures, one keeper in the wild mammals team was accidentally struck by the medical tranquiliser that vets use in these instances.
“As a result, emergency services were called and he was taken to Hospital Universitari de Canarias, where he was treated.
“He recovered and is now in good health.”
The National Police have now taken possession of the air gun, the sedative and have spoken to the vet.
