Kraus said there was nothing to prevent visitors to the painted dog exhibit from jumping into the exhibit area. In September a man jumped off an elevated viewing train at the Bronx Zoo in New York and was severely mauled by tigers. Authorities first said the wall was 18 feet high, but a review found it was just 12 ½ feet. In 2007 a tiger jumped over a wall at the San Francisco zoo, killing one visitor and wounding two others. Past fatal attacks at have prompted zoos around the nation to review safety features of their exhibits. The zoo was on lockdown for about an hour as a precaution. In May, some of the dogs crawled under a fence and escaped into a part of the exhibit that's usually closed. Visitors walk onto a deck that is glassed on the sides, but open in front where the roughly four-foot railing is located. 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. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered. The so-called painted dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, and 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. The Allegheny County medical examiner planned an autopsy Monday and the boy's name was not expected to be released until that was complete. Zoo officials at first estimated the boy fell 14 feet, but police said it was 11. It's not yet clear whether the boy died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. "Almost immediately after that he lost his balance, fell down off the railing into the pit, and he was immediately attacked by 11 dogs," Kraus said. Sunday after the mother picked the child up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck. Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police said the attack happened at about 11:45 a.m. Visitors walk onto a deck that is glassed on the sides, but open in front where the roughly four-foot railing is located.PITTSBURGH (AP) - A mother's attempt to give her two-year-old son a better view of wild African dogs turned into a 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. 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. The African painted dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, about 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. The medical examiner’s office has not yet publicly confirmed its findings or released the boy’s name. Baker said she had been informed by the Allegheny County medical examiner that an autopsy determined the boy survived the plunge. The animals attacked the child so violently and quickly that by the time a veterinarian and other zoo staffers arrived seconds later, they determined it would have been futile to try rescuing the boy, she said. He bounced twice and then he bounced into the exhibit,” said Baker, tearing up at a news conference Monday afternoon. There was a safety net below the railing, but it failed to catch him and the boy dropped more than 10 feet into the enclosure, she said. The boy’s mother had picked him up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck late Sunday morning when he lost his balance and fell, said Barbara Baker, CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. PITTSBURGH - A 2-year-old boy who fell into an exhibit of African wild dogs was killed by the animals, not the fall, the president of the Pittsburgh Zoo said Monday, adding a horrific coda to a tragedy that has devastated staff and shocked patrons.
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