L.A. firefighters rescued a Los Angeles Zoo employee who fell into a gorilla enclosure Thursday morning, fire officials said.

The 61-year-old man fell 15 to 20 feet at about 8:30 a.m. and possibly broke his femur, said LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart. The employee had been landscaping the gorilla habitat when he “lost his footing” and fell into the habitat’s moat, zoo officials said in a statement.

The exhibit’s apes were secured in their sleeping quarters, officials said.

Two urban search-and-rescue task forces used a rope system to hoist the man up, video of the rescue on KTLA showed.


Firefighters put the man on a gurney and wheeled him to a waiting ambulance.

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