A New Mexico woman is charged with child abuse after her son was mauled by bobcat at the zoo, allegedly because she took the boy across a protective barrier to get a closer look at the cat.

Police say 22-year-old Courtney Hutchins ignored warning signs last month and hopped a metal barrier to the bobcat enclosure, NBC station KOB TV reported.

Hutchins’ brother, who was also at the zoo that day, told police they were petting the cats, according to a criminal complaint.

A bobcat grabbed the child by the head and pulled him toward the protective fence, severely injuring him.

Eight staples were required to close the wound in the boy’s head, according to the station.

Witnesses told police the three crossed the barrier and were coaxing the animal closer, reportedly right in front of a warning sign.

The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported that Hutchins was arrested April 9 and released on $5,000 bond. 

The San Diego Zoo was placed on lockdown Friday night after two striped hyenas escaped from their enclosure, zoo officials confirmed.

A source who wishes to remain anonymous told NBC 7 the incident happened around 5:30 p.m. The tipster believes the hyenas somehow jumped out of their enclosure.

The zoo’s public relations office confirmed the incident Saturday morning and told NBC 7 that two striped hyenas were able to get past one of the barriers inside their enclosure, temporarily escaping.

Worker at the zoo noticed the hyenas were not where they were supposed to be and, at that point, zookeepers came down to the enclosure.

Zoo officials say a lockdown for the zoo was immediately initiated following the escape as keepers worked to contain the animals. In an event like this, zoo officials say a lockdown is standard protocol.

The lockdown lasted approximately 30 minutes, according to zoo officials. Eventually, the two striped hyenas were darted with a sedative and taken to the veterinary care facility.

Zoo officials say the hyenas were never in contact with any humans and there was never any danger to zoo-goers. No injuries were reported.

The anonymous tipster told NBC 7 the zoo remained on lockdown for closer to an hour and half, rather than 30 minutes. The tipster also said a private party was happening on zoo grounds at the time of the incident.

However, zoo officials said the area where this happened was nowhere near the private party.

Officials did not release any further details about how, exactly, the hyenas were able to get over the barrier. It is unknown if the barrier in question is a wall, moat or fence, as the hyena enclosure includes all different types of barriers.

Updated at 9:53 p.m. ET: Police looking for two suspects who broke into a Boise, Idaho zoo and fatally beat a monkey have a clue: a light gray cap near where the monkey was found.

The hat is emblazoned with a white skull surrounded by swirly drawing and the logo "M L" written on the skull's forehead.

A security guard told officers he spotted two males in dark clothing, one inside the zoo grounds and the other outside the fence near the primate exhibit. When the suspects saw the guard, they ran.

Police searched the 11-acre zoo, including one sweep with a thermal imager, but did not find the suspects.

During the search, officers and zoo employees found a Patas monkey lying next to the perimeter fence near the primate exhibit where the suspects were last seen. The monkey appeared to have a head injury and died a short time later.

When they were searching for the offender, Burns said they heard a groan, the Idaho Statesman reported. It was unclear whether the groan came from a human or a monkey, he said.

The monkey shared a cage with another male monkey that was not harmed, according to the Statesman.

Detectives collected blood evidence at the scene that's being tested to determine if it's blood from the monkey or a human.  

"It's very disturbing that someone would intentionally break into the zoo and harm an animal. We're doing all we can to find who did this." said Sgt. Ted Snyder of the Boise Police Department. 

Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com

“Everybody here at the zoo is devastated,” zoo Director Steve Burns said in a statement.

“It’s sad to have to tell kids that one of their favorite animals is gone.”

A veterinarian is conducting a necropsy of the monkey to determine the cause of death. All the other zoo animals were accounted for and uninjured.

Patas monkeys are ground-dwelling animals from the plains of Africa. At 2 ½ feet, they typically weigh 35 pounds, according to a zoo statement.

Patas monkeys are rare in zoos but are not endangered in the wild, says Burns. There is one remaining male Patas monkey at the zoo. Both of the animals came to Zoo Boise three years ago from the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa Bay, Fla.

“Because monkeys are social animals we are concerned about the welfare of the remaining animal,” said Burns. The zoo will explore opportunities to replace the monkey or move the remaining animal to another zoo. 

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Body found at scene of oil platform explosion in Gulf of Mexico, Coast Guard says
• NTSB: Warning signals activated before vets' float pulled onto train tracks
• 6 officers injured when 2 police helicopters collide in Pasadena
• Foul smell leads police to dismembered woman in Southern California
• Large amounts of bomb-making chemicals found in doctor's home, authorities say
• Video: Who is Holly Petraeus

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Keith Srakocic / AP

The overlook platform where a boy fell into the exhibit home to African painted dogs is seen at the Pittsburgh Zoo on Nov. 5, 2012.

The fatal mauling of a toddler by African wild dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo highlights an uncomfortable truth for all zoos: No exhibit is fail-proof.

Striking a balance between providing a safe and yet authentic experience is an evolving science on its own, with the ultimate goal being to protect both animals and visitors, said Doug Warmolts, Director of Animal Care at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. 

“Short of putting everything behind glass and solid barriers, it’s hard to make everything absolutely safe,” Warmolts said. “People’s expectations when they come to a zoo or aquarium are to have a meaningful experience where they have that connection with the animals, and it’s hard to do that if they’re looking through a chain-link fence.”

Gene J. Puskar / AP file

An African Painted Dog yawns at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium in Pittsburgh as he lays in a pile of hay Thursday, March 12, 2009.

Maddock Derkosh, 2, fell into an African painted dog exhibit late Sunday morning at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The boy’s mother had put him on a wooden railing at the edge of a viewing deck to see the animals, officials said, and the boy fell into the exhibit. He initially landed on the netting below the deck but bounced several times before dropping about 11 feet into the dog’s enclosure.  

Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter

Witnesses said at least three dogs surrounded quickly, attacking him at his head, neck and legs. An autopsy revealed Monday that the boy was killed by the animals, not by the fall.

The exhibit housing the wild dogs remained closed Tuesday pending an investigation by police, who said it was still too early to determine whether criminal charges will be brought against the zoo or the boy’s mother. The zoo opened for visitors Tuesday.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums in September – the gold standard for zoos in the U.S. – the zoo met or exceeded all safety standards for animals and visitors, Mary Baker, the zoo’s president and CEO, said Monday.

Warmolts said exhibits at accredited zoos are designed by architecture, engineering and design firms that understand zoo animals’ behavior, from their abilities to jump, climb and dig to how to properly care and set standards for them in a zoo setting.

“We have to blend those together to create an exhibit that’s not only a suitable and enriching environment for the animals and a safe experience for people to feel immersed into that environment,” Warmolts said.

“We have fences and barriers and moats and signs and even zoo staff that can keep visitors at a certain distance from the animals. That’s why what happened is very rare. But we can’t always monitor them," he said.

In San Diego, officials said the incident in Pittsburgh is likely to prompt larger, industry-wide reassessments.

“The way humans interact with animals has changed drastically over the last hundred years, so certainly one of the things that zoos have had to be is highly adaptive, especially in these situations when tragic accidents happen,” Christina Simmons, a spokesperson for the San Diego Zoo, told NBC News.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com 

In Chicago, officials at the Brookfield Zoo said Monday that the events at the Pittsburgh Zoo have so far not prompted the change of any of their practices or protocols.

"We have, like all other accredited institutions, procedures and policies that we follow in the event of an accident -- even a person having a heart attack -- and we also drill on those events too," said Bill Zeigler, the Brookfield Zoo's Senior Vice President of Collections and Animal Programs. 

Even with safety standards enforced, Wamolts said, the zoo industry is constantly dealing with "human error" by its visitors. 

"What happened is very rare," Warmolts said. "We’re always in the process of evaluating and reviewing and making adjustments as needed, and it’s an art to try and determine how to do that. What’s more common is people exhibiting inappropriate behavior. It’s just unfortunate."

More content from NBCNews.com:

• 6 splitting headaches waiting for Obama
• Nor'easter threatens up to foot of snow in Sandy's wake
• Cops: Co-worker kills 2, wounds 2 at chicken processing plant
• Michigan highway shootings suspect arrested
• Underwear needed for Staten Island victims of Sandy, official says
• Nun accused of stealing $128,000 to play casinos

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

A medical examiner has ruled that a 2-year-old boy who tumbled into an African painted dog exhibit at a Pittsburgh zoo was killed by the animals and not by the fall, a zoo official said Monday.

"What we understand from the medical examiner's report, the child did not die from the fall. The child was mauled by the dogs," said Barbara Baker, CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, WPIX-TV reported.

Officials say the child's mother had placed the boy on a wooden rail above the exhibit so he could get a better look at the animals. There is a net below the rail, but Baker says the boy bounced off it and into the enclosure.

"The child initially was caught by the netting. From witness accounts the child was so small that he bounced, then he bounced twice and then bounced into the exhibit," Baker said.

Gene J. Puskar / AP file

An African Painted Dog at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium in Pittsburgh in 2009.

Baker fought back tears as she discussed the incident during a press conference at the zoo on Monday.

"The zoo feels terrible about this tragic accident that happened. It's your worst nightmare as a zoo professional," Baker said, according to WPIX-TV.

The animals attacked so quickly that by the time a veterinarian and other zoo staffers arrived, they determined it would have been futile to try to rescue the child, Baker said.

Boy falls into Pittsburgh zoo exhibit, mauled to death by African painted dogs

'Someone help!'
Authorities said that zoo staff and then police responded "within minutes." Visitors described that time as being filled with screams for help.

"The screams just kept coming and coming: 'Someone help! Someone has to do something',” Angela Cinti, a witness, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday.  

Zookeepers called off some of the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. Three more eventually were drawn away from the child, but the last dog was aggressive and police had to shoot the animal.

"There were three dogs, one at his head, one on the left side of his neck and another one down by his leg, " Cinti told The Post-Gazette. ”A [zoo employee] got there and hopped over a fence with a rake and he was banging ... trying to distract the dogs, but they wouldn't move."

Experts said the death is highly unusual.

Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter

Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, told The Associated Press no one he's spoken to can recall any deaths of children at an accredited zoo over the last 40 years or more. Feldman said the Pittsburgh Zoo successfully completed its five-year review in September, which means it meets or exceeds all safety standards.

Authorities didn't release the name of the boy but relatives identified him as Maddock Derkosh, according to the Post-Gazette. Authorities said his mother is 34 years old and lives in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. The boy's father was identified by the Post-Gazette as Jason Derkosh, a building designer at the architectural firm L. Robert Kimball & Associates.

The zoo was immediately closed, and it was not clear when it will reopen, authorities said.

African painted dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, and weight 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered.

The attack happened in a 1.5 acre exhibit called the Painted Dog Bush Camp that's part of a larger open area where elephants, lions and other animals can be seen. Visitors walk onto a deck that is glassed on the sides, but open in front where the roughly four-foot railing is located.

In May, some of the dogs crawled under a fence and escaped into a part of the exhibit that's usually closed. The zoo was on lockdown for about an hour as a precaution and the animals were coaxed back in.

Fatal attacks
Past fatal attacks have prompted zoos around the nation to review safety features of their exhibits. In 2007 a tiger jumped over a wall at the San Francisco Zoo, killing one visitor and wounding two others. Authorities first said the wall was 18 feet high, but a review found it was just 12 ½ feet.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

In September a man jumped off an elevated viewing train at the Bronx Zoo in New York and was severely mauled by tigers.

Kraus said there was nothing to prevent visitors to the Pittsburgh Zoo's painted dog exhibit from jumping into the exhibit area.

Police and the Allegheny County medical examiner's office are investigating, and they haven't yet interviewed the mother or father, who are receiving grief counseling.

Baker said the zoo, which has never had a visitor death, will also investigate. She said no decision has been made yet on the future of the exhibit.

NBC News's Sevil Omer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Pulpit politics: Pastors endorse candidates, thumbing noses at IRS
• Boy falls into zoo exhibit, mauled to death by African painted dogs
• Weed wars: If states legalize pot, will feds still crack down?
• Delphi retirees say government betrayed them
• Nonvoters: They're too busy, fed up or say their vote doesn't count
• Video: Marathon runners racing to help out Sandy victims

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Gene J. Puskar / AP file

An African painted dog yawns at the Pittsburgh Zoo in March 2009. Officials say a young boy was mauled to death after falling into the wild dog exhibit on Sunday.

Updated at 9:33 p.m. ET: A 2-year-old boy fell into an African painted dog exhibit at a Pittsburgh zoo on Sunday and was mauled by the wild animals, zoo officials said.

The child was with his mother visiting the  Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. He fell about 11 feet off a railing that his mother had put him on top of to view the animals, police said.

He was immediately attacked by several dogs, zoo President and CEO Barbara Baker said. It is unclear whether the boy died from the fall or from being attacked by the animals.

"The screams just kept coming and coming: 'Someone help. Someone has to do something,'" Angela Cinti, 20, of Bethel Park, who was visiting the zoo with her boyfriend, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The zoo quickly moved visitors into buildings as animal keepers tried to coax the dogs into an off-exhibit area.  Many of the 11 dogs in the exhibit moved away immediately, and several others were scared away from the child by the zookeepers. A remaining dog would not leave the child, and a Pittsburgh police officer shot the animal.

Baker pointed out these types of dogs typically hunt in packs, so this behavior is not considered unusual.

No visitors on the observation deck saw the child fall into the exhibit, Baker said.

The zoo was closed for the day while police and zoo officials investigate.

Authorities didn't immediately release the name of the boy or his mother, but say she is 34 years old and lives in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. The boy's father arrived on the scene soon after the accident, police said.

NBC News

African painted dogs, also known as African wild dogs, Cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs, and painted wolves, are found in the open plains and sparse woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. The long-legged canines have only four toes per foot.

According to the zoo’s website, African painted dogs are the size of medium domestic dogs, weighing on average between 37 and 80 pounds and measuring 24 to 30 inches high.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

The dogs are classified as an endangered species.

The dogs normally live in a 1.5-acre exhibit called the Painted Dog Bush Camp that's part of a larger open area called the African Savanna, where elephants, lions and other animals can be seen.   

In May, some of the dogs crawled under a fence and escaped into a part of the exhibit that's usually closed. The animals were lured back in with food and no one was hurt.

Ten African painted dogs were born at the zoo in 2009, and their mother died of a ruptured uterus shortly after delivering the litter. Five of the pups survived. The mortality rate for painted pups is 50 percent, even when born in the wild to a healthy mother.   

It was only the second litter to be hand-raised in captivity, along with one in the United Kingdom, zoo officials said at the time.

NBC's Betsy Cline and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

More content from NBCNews.com:

• NTSB probes helicopter crash that klilled 2 Atlanta police officers
• Gunman opens fire at crowded fair; 7 wounded
• Nanny charged in stabbing deaths of two children on New York's Upper West Side
• New player jumps into state elections to push education overhaul
• NYC crime falls by one third in wake of superstorm Sandy
• Video: Marathon runners racing to help out Sandy victims

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Tammy Spratt / San Diego Zoo Safari Park via AP

Vila turns 55 this weekend and who keepers say is the third-oldest known western lowland gorilla in the world.

The third-oldest known gorilla in the world is celebrating her 55th birthday this weekend at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, zoo officials announced.

While the hand-raised, western lowland gorilla named “Vila” may be turning the big 55, zookeepers said she’s in remarkable condition for her age.

They credit the Southern California climate for Vila’s good health.

According to zoo officials, Vila has served as a surrogate mother to seven gorillas during her life and also plays grandmother to the San Diego Zoo’s youngest gorilla, Monroe.

View complete coverage at NBCSanDiego.com

On Friday morning Vila showed off her grandma skills by letting Monroe ride around on her back, as pictured above.

Besides her notable age and contributions as a surrogate mother, zoo officials said Vila has also made significant contributions to the understanding of her critically endangered species over the years.

She participated in a six-year study on great ape intelligence, which zoo officials said contributed to the base of scientific knowledge that researchers now have about gorillas.

An adult chimpanzee mauled a baby chimp to death Tuesday inside their exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo in front of a crowd of visitors, zoo officials said.

The 3-month-old chimp was the first to be born at the zoo habitat in 13 years, and she was gradually being introduced to the coed troop of 15 adults when an adult male chimpanzee fatally injured her in their habitat, zoo spokesperson Jason Jacobs said in a statement.

Los Angeles Zoo

Gracie, a chimp at the Los Angeles Zoo, holds her baby. The unnamed infant was mauled to death by an adult male chimp Tuesday.

The unnamed infant was born in early March to a chimp at the zoo named Gracie, who “had proven to be a caring mother,” the zoo said. Gracie was allowed to keep the chimp overnight to grieve her loss.  

Zoo staff didn’t witness the attack, but said it happened in front of a crowd of visitors.

“I did talk to a couple of visitors as I was coming up here, tried to help them process what they had seen,” Director John Lewis told NBCLosAngeles.com. “We also had some other visitors help us get a better understanding.”

Deputy Director Denis Verret said grief counseling was made available for visitors and staff.

Zoo officials said acts of aggression among the troop of chimps were not expected.

“Everything that we saw has been positive, all the chimps have been very interested, wanting to either be close to, or touch the baby,” Jennie Becker, the zoo’s curator of mammals, told KCAL-TV.

Male chimpanzees are well known for violence, including the killing of the young. Scientists speculate that clashes over stomping grounds might fuel these conflicts, and the human encroachment on chimpanzee territory, such as in zoo environments, may exacerbate them.

Studies and observations in recent years have also shown that male chimpanzees often attack the infants of rival chimps both in the wild and in captivity, especially if a desired female is involved, according to zoo officials.

“Chimpanzee behavior can sometimes be aggressive and violent and the zoo is sorry that visitors had to be exposed to this,” Jacobs said. “This is a heartbreaking and tragic loss for the zoo and especially for the Great Ape Team who have worked diligently to care for the infant and its mother since birth.”

Zoo officials were still investigating the circumstances behind the attack but said they may need to consider changing their approach to new arrivals.

“We’re going to have to consider, at what age maybe we introduce babies to the group,” Becker said. “I didn’t think that this was going to be a problem. These are all experienced, social chimps.”

The zoo in Griffith Park houses on of the nation’s largest troops of chimpanzee – 15 in all – in a North American zoo, officials said. 

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Report: Stowaways in container on ship in New Jersey port
• Chicago police to partner with anti-violence group CeaseFire to curb shootings
• Some offshore Arctic waters to be leased for energy drilling, US says
• Pentagon, Congress take another stab at abusive lending targeted at military families
• Next stop for Arizona immigration law: Back to the courts?
• Video: Home from jail, alleged ‘soccer mom madam’ speaks

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

Fairfax County Police Dept.

Meghan Mogensen, 26, is charged with animal cruelty and possession of a controlled substance.

The director of a private zoo in Reston, Va., was arrested and charged with animal cruelty in connection with the suspicious death of a wallaby, according to Reston police.

Reston Zoo Director Meghan Mogensen, 26, of Silver Spring, Md. was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, police said.

Follow @msnbc_us

Follow Kari Huus on Twitter and Facebook.

Both charges are class-one misdemeanors, and Mogensen is not currently in detention, according to Eddy Azcarate, a public information officer for the Reston Police District of Fairfax County Police.

The arrest came Friday after what police described as "a complex five-month-long investigation" looked into allegations of improper treatment of injured animals and improper use of euthanasia."

 A search warrant filed Feb. 16 in Fairfax County Circuit Court cited an unnamed zoo worker who said he feared the animal had been illegally drowned. The last he had seen the adult wallaby, a species in the same family as the kangaroo, he had placed it in a crate because it was sick and needed veterinary care, according to the warrant, obtained by NBC Washington.

The male employee said he later saw the crate empty and found the wallaby's wet carcass in a nearby trash container, the report said, citing the court document.

Mogensen claimed that she had humanely euthanized the wallaby with an injection of Beuthanasia-D, NBC reported. However, the investigation revealed that the zoo did not have the necessary permits or the training to dispense the drug.

According to its web page, Reston Zoo is a "30-acre, family-friendly zoo and home to a wide variety of exotic animals." The zoo advertises a petting barn and "zoofari wagon rides" around the park. It lists domestic farm animals such as horses, goats and lambs, as well as more exotic creatures such as wildebeest, monkeys, zebras, alligators and a clouded leopard. The site does not list wallabies among its animal exhibits. 

According to Patch.com, the zoo is owned by Eric Mogensen, Meghan’s father, who currently owns two other zoos.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• High court strikes down key parts of Arizona immigration law
• High court affirms corporations' right to political spending
• Slow-moving storm Debby drenches Florida
• Calif. teacher, 4 students arrested over alleged hazing
• Police officer shot dead at jazz concert in Denver park
• Video: Florida residents take golf carts to the streets

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook