Everything happened quick. Paramedics and firefighters arrived. The boy was taken to the hospital at MetroHealth Medical Center with a leg injury and was listed in stable condition. Fortunately, no action against humans occurred from the cheetahs. They never approached the boy or his parents. The zoo closed the cheetah exhibit for the remainder of the day and said it would press charges against the boy’s mother for endangering his welfare. The zoo’s executive director, Dr. Christopher Kuhar, specified that “unfortunately, we have a number of eyewitness accounts that point to the strong likelihood that the child was dangled over the railing.” Cheetahs are the fastest land animal, have claws that never fully retract and are capable of climbing trees.
