Dublin Zoo have been ordered to pay €5,000 to two children’s charities in relation to an incident which saw a toddler and her mother attacked by a Brazilian tapir.

The two–year-old girl and her mother were on a supervised visit when the attack occurred.

Representatives for the zoo apologised for the incident when they appeared before Dublin District Court earlier today.

Judge O’Neill decided to apply the Probation Act to the zoo on condition that two charitable donations were paid - €2,500 to LauraLynn Children’s Hospital and €2,500 to the Jack and Jill Foundation.

The zoo were ordered to pay the sums before December 8th, when they are due to appear before court again.

If the payments have been made then, no conviction will be recorded against the Zoological Society of Ireland.

In a statement issued by Dublin Zoo, they confirmed they pleaded guilty to a single summons alleging “failure to implement the most recent risk assessment for the tapir habitat on August 8th, 2013”.

“The Court noted the Society’s sincere apology for the exceptional circumstances which gave rise to the incident,” the statement said.

“In the aftermath of the deeply regrettable incident involving a Brazilian tapir and visitors during a supervised animal encounter, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) carried out an investigation which Dublin Zoo fully co-operated with and implemented all subsequent recommendations.

“A separate health and safely investigation was also carried out by an external agency appointed by Dublin Zoo.

“Although health and safely policies had been in place at the time of this incident, additional controls have since been put in place.

The zoo they have implemented a number of changes – most significantly, visitor contact with animals ceased with immediate effect after the incident.

Changes were also made to the tapir habitat following the attack to make it a protected contact habitat for staff.

“Dublin Zoo will continuously review its safety procedures and policies to ensure best practice is in place,” the statement concluded.

Online Editors