“We’re going to try to make it as natural as possible for him. He’s going to live his life out here."
Every parent of a young child knows the feeling: you look away for a moment, and your toddler has vanished from the spot where they just stood. At a Pennsylvania zoo, that scenario turned into a nightmare — and now criminal charges.
The parents of a 1-year-old boy have been charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child after the toddler entered a wolf enclosure and was injured at ZooAmerica, located inside Hersheypark in Hershey, according to the Associated Press. The parents are awaiting a preliminary hearing later this month.
How a 1-Year-Old Got Past the Barriers
The incident occurred just before noon on Saturday. Police said the toddler passed through a small opening in a wooden perimeter fence and entered a restricted area near the wolf exhibit.
For parents who have watched a determined toddler squeeze through gaps that seem impossibly narrow, the detail is chilling in its familiarity. Once inside, the child reached a chain-link enclosure and placed their hand through the fence. A wolf approached and made contact with the child’s hand.
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“From the injuries sustained, it appears as though one of the wolves in the enclosure instinctively and naturally grabbed onto the child’s hand with its mouth. Several bystanders intervened and helped pull the child away,” police said in a statement.
The child sustained minor, surface-level injuries — a critical detail for any parent reading this with a knot in their stomach.
What the Zoo Said About the Wolf’s Behavior
Zoo officials stated that the wolf’s behavior was not aggressive.
“A wolf approached and made contact with the child’s hand. This was not a forceful or aggressive action, but rather a brief, investigatory behavior consistent with how wild canines interact with unfamiliar objects in their environment,” the zoo said.
The wolf remains in the exhibit and is up to date on vaccinations.
Parents Were 8 to 9 Meters Away on Their Phones
The detail at the heart of the criminal charges is one that will resonate — uncomfortably — with many parents. Evidence showed that the child’s parents both walked about eight to nine meters away from the child to a seating area with benches and appeared to be paying attention to their cellphones when they noticed what was happening, police said in a statement.
Derry Township Police Chief Garth W. Warner said the length of time the child was unattended is unclear.
“There are plenty of opportunities for a child of that age to hurt themselves on things,” Warner said. “Let alone, be left alone, essentially by themselves, where they could get themselves into a situation like this child did.”
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Why Prosecutors Filed Charges
Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said charges were filed after review of the circumstances.
“We looked at a lot of factors — the age of the child, the circumstances, how diligent you have to be because it’s potentially dangerous,” Chardo told AP.
The charges are misdemeanors, not felonies. Chardo’s comments suggest prosecutors weighed the child’s very young age and the inherently hazardous environment of a zoo when deciding whether the level of supervision fell below a legal threshold.
The parents face a preliminary hearing later this month.
