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Conservation/Environment

Case Histories

Crisis Management: Zoo Gorilla Gains World Fame

Challenge

At Brookfield Zoo on the afternoon of August 16, 1996, visitors crowded around the popular Western Lowland Gorilla exhibit watched in horror as an unattended, three-year-old child climbed over a protective barrier and tumbled 20 feet to the bottom of the gorillas' exhibit. Lying unconscious, the child was pick up by a female gorilla named Binti Jua, who also cradled her own infant, Koola. Videotape and photographs capturing the accident show Binti Jua shielding the boy from the other curious gorillas in the enclosure, then gently carrying him to the exhibit doorway where a rescue crew waited.

Her actions were immediately labeled "humanitarian," but at that same instant, the zoo's response in the next several hours and following days was critical in determining how people around the world would react to what happened in those few minutes. The zoo's safety and public image came under the scrutiny of the world.

Action

Based on its long working relationship with Public Communications Inc. (PCI), the Brookfield Zoo's media department immediately called PCI for crisis management assistance in what soon became an international story. PCI previously counseled the zoo when dealing with animal rights activities, animal deaths, and public health issues. Since 1993, PCI has media trained more than 36 zoo staff members and helped the zoo create an internal crisis communications plan. In this instance, background information on Binti Jua and gorillas was researched, all key staff were previously trained by PCI in media training workshops, and an internal crisis communication plan was ready to help staff respond to the issue.

Zoo staff immediately began using the crisis communications guidelines. Action included assembling a crisis team, getting details of the accident and preparing a statement; developing message points; and designating four zoo spokespersons, Primate Manager Melinda Pruitt-Jones, Gorilla Curator Craig Demitros, Building and Grounds Manager Ralph Piland, and Zoo Director George B. Rabb.

Strategies were quickly discussed and agreed upon to help manage the issue, including:

  • Taking an open and cooperative position with the media.
  • Protecting the identity of the child, as requested by the parents. (Spokespersons were reminded to never criticized the parents or child's action and to constantly expressed concern for his condition and speedy recovery.)
  • Avoiding any action that could appear to exploit or capitalize on the accident or Binti Jua's sudden stardom. (Dozens of requests to sell Binti t-shirts, write Binti books, create Binti souvenirs were refused by the zoo.)
  • Positioning curators as spokespersons regarding the accident and the zoo director as spokesperson offering assurance that the zoo is safe and places a priority on visitor safety. He would again be called upon to addressed anticipated questions regarding the media anthropomorphizing Binti (attributing human qualities to the gorilla).
  • Working closely with Loyola University Medical Center, where the boy was treated and eventually released three days after his fall. Loyola PR staff managed information regarding the child's condition and release from the hospital.

Media were on the scene within 45 minutes. Zoo staff were prepared to provide interviews about what had occurred, with emphasis on concern for the child and the zoo's priority placed on visitor safety. Other actions included:

  • Releasing a press statement within one-half hour of the accident, including distributing it on PR Newswire.
  • Setting up a team to answer incoming calls and a system to track the calls.
  • Having a third party review and comment on the gorilla exhibit's safety and assure the public the exhibit is safe and does not require alteration. (In 14 years since the exhibit opened, no similar problem ever occurred.)
  • Monitoring news reports for accuracy and tone, and respond accordingly.

The message points were consistently used by zoo spokespersons, and the zoo suffered no serious attacks by media.

To help educate the public, the zoo offered media interviews on its gorilla behavioral training program that can strongly influence behaviors like that shown by Binti Jua when she picked up the boy. Using a toy doll, Curator Craig Demitros illustrated how Binti Jua was trained to bring her newborn baby to curators, much like she did when she carried the child to the exhibit door. The subsequent stories helped address increasing questions about what motivated Binti Jua's actions.

Results

While media coverage was not the goal, Binti's story appeared in every major national newspaper, on national TV network shows, including "CBS This Morning," "Dateline," "Good Morning America," and cable TV news; national radio networks; and national magazines, including Life, Newsweek, Time and People. International media from Japan, Germany, South America, England and Africa carried the story. With a restricted budget, the zoo elected not to retrieve all the media clips, but initial media monitoring reports exceeded more than 2,000 stories. Zoo staff responded to each media inquiry including more than 300 calls on the Monday following the accident.

No media alleged that the zoo could have prevented the accident. The carefully planned strategies and message points reached millions of people, and helped preserve and enhance the zoo's image as a compassionate institution that cares for its visitors and for its animals.