Wild dogs kill 2-year-old boy at Pa. zoo exhibit

AAA??Nov. 5, 2012?2:32 AM ET
Wild dogs kill 2-year-old boy at Pa. zoo exhibit
By KEVIN BEGOSBy KEVIN BEGOS, Associated Press??

A security guard closes the gate at the Pittsburgh Zoo, where zoo officials say a young boy was killed after he fell into the exhibit that was home to a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the boy and mauled him, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. It?s not clear whether he died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. (AP Photo/John Heller)

A security guard closes the gate at the Pittsburgh Zoo, where zoo officials say a young boy was killed after he fell into the exhibit that was home to a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the boy and mauled him, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. It?s not clear whether he died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. (AP Photo/John Heller)

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium President and CEO Barbara Baker holds a news conference on the death of a young boy who was killed when he fell about 14 feet off a deck into an exhibit that's home to a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the boy and mauled him, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bob Donaldson) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; MONESSEN OUT; KITTANNING OUT; CONNELLSVILLE OUT; GREENSBURG OUT; TARENTUM OUT; NORTH HILLS NEWS RECORD OUT; BUTLER OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT

This photo taken Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 shows the exterior view of the front entrance of the Pittsburgh Zoo, where zoo officials say a young boy was killed after he fell into the exhibit that was home to a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the boy and mauled him. It?s not clear whether he died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. (AP Photo/John Heller)

A security guard closes the gate at the Pittsburgh Zoo, where zoo officials say a young boy was killed after he fell into the exhibit that was home to a pack of African painted dogs, who pounced on the boy and mauled him, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. It?s not clear whether he died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. (AP Photo/John Heller)

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Police say a mother's attempt to give her 2-year-old son a better view of wild African dogs turned into a "horrific" tragedy at the Pittsburgh Zoo after the boy fell into the exhibit and was killed by a pack of the animals as relatives and bystanders looked on.

Pittsburgh police Lt. Kevin Kraus says the attack happened at about 11:45 a.m. Sunday. The mother picked the child up and put him on top of a viewing deck railing, but he fell almost immediately and was attacked by 11 dogs.

It's not yet clear whether the boy died from the fall or the attack, said Pittsburgh Zoo president Barbara Baker.

The zoo has closed, and it's not clear when it will reopen.

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-05-Pittsburgh%20Zoo-Child%20Killed/id-d0775388909f43c5bb2954d4c4eb83cb

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