A VET has shot a tranquilliser dart into a zoo employee dressed as a gorilla in a case of mistaken identity.

The 35-year-old zoo worker was shot on Monday at Tenerife’s Loro Parque Zoo.

Staff at the zoo were performing an emergency drill to practice procedures in the event of an escape when the incident occurred. The vet had not been told the exercise was taking place and shot the man with tranquilliser sufficient to down a 180kg gorilla. The worker suffered an allergic reaction to the narcotic and was taken to hospital, Spanish language newspaper La Opinion de Tenerife reports.

Zoo staff told MailOnline an alarm was set off as part of the simulation, and “one keeper in the wild mammals team was accidentally struck by the medical tranquilliser that vets use in these instances.”

They added that the worker has “recovered and is now in good health”.