This is the tragic two-year-old boy who was mauled to death by a pack of ravenous African wild dogs after he fell off a zoo railing his mother put him on to get a better view of the animals on Sunday.
Maddox Derkosh had ‘no chance’ of surviving after falling 11 feet into the dog pit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium while his horrified parents Jason and Elizabeth Derkosh looked on helpless.
Desperate rescue attempts by zookeepers and armed police officers could not deter the 11 aggressive beasts as they savagely attacked the two-year-old, from Pleasant Hills, on Sunday morning.
The family’s neighbor Rachel Majcher told the Tribune Review: ‘They went nowhere without Maddox. I cannot imagine the dark cloud that is following them.
Victim: Maddox Derkosh, two, ‘didn’t stand a chance’ of surviving after falling 11 feet into the dog pit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium while his horrified parents Jason and Elizabeth Derkosh looked on helpless
Deadly hunters: The Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium has housed a pack of 11 African Painted dogs, one of which is seen here in 2009, for several years
Scene: The overlook platform where the boy fell into the exhibit that was home to a pack of African painted dogs is seen through a window from another observation area at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
Zookeepers fired darts and a police officer opened fire, killing one of the African painted dogs, an endangered animal, but rescuers still could not reach the boy in time.
THE ‘PAINTED WOLF’ – WHO HUNT IN AGGRESSIVE PACKS AND DISEMBOWEL THEIR PREY
The African wild dog is an endangered species which typically roams the open plains and sparse woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa.
The dog’s Latin name Lycaon pictus means ‘painted wolf’ because of the animal’s patchy colored coat of red, black, brown, white and yellow fur, each with their own unique pattern.
These dogs are very social, and packs have been known to share food and to assist weak or ill members. In fact after a successful hunt, the dogs regurgitate meat for those that remained at the den.
They hunt in packs of six to 20 and despite their small size they prey on large animals like antelopes and wildebeests.
They kill the larger prey by disemboweling, a technique that is rapid but has caused this species to have a negative, ferocious reputation.
They are often hunted and killed by farmers who fear for their domestic animals and are susceptible to diseases spread by domestic animals.
Its large teeth allow it to consume a lot of bone in the same way a hyena does and it has a bite force quotient – BFQ, the strength of bite relative to the animal’s mass - measured at 142, the highest of any carnivore, except for the Tasmanian devil.
They are extremely aggressive and nearly 80 per cent of their hunts end in a kill – as opposed to a lion with a success rate of just 30 percent.
There were once approximately 500,000 African wild dogs in 39 countries, and packs of 100 or more were not uncommon. Now there are only about 3,000-5,500 in fewer than 25 countries
Police don’t know whether the boy died from the 11-foot fall or from the attack.
Lt Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police described the accident as ‘horrific.’
‘Unfortunately, the dogs were in pack mentality and not responding to zookeepers’ efforts to control them,’ the zoo said in a statement.
Zookeepers quickly drove off seven of the dogs, which are slightly smaller than Labrador retrievers, but the others could not be stopped.
Employees pounded on the railings of their pen and shouted at the animals in an effort to deter them. A flurry of darts also did not drive them back.
When Pittsburgh police intervened, one especially aggressive dog refused to back down and stop attacking the boy. It was shot dead by an officer.
Zoo officials said there is a mesh barrier beyond the railing, but Lt Kraus said it was designed to catch small objects such as cameras, and not humans.
Rachel Majcher went to high school with Elizabeth Derkosh.
She told the Tribune Review: ’I can’t imagine as a mom myself what tragedy that would be, Your heart stops when your kid skins a knee.’
She said her father saw Maddox trick-or-treating in a Superman costume, and he could often be found playing on a swing set with his cousin, who lives nearby.
‘The hardest part is going to be to explain to my kids that their playmate is no longer here. His life will be celebrated.’
Investigators have not determined the exact cause of death, he said.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said the boy’s name would not be released until later today.
The boy and his mother were visiting the park with relatives – an adult and another child – at the time of the attack.
Police said the boy’s father arrived soon after the accident and both parents are currently being medicated to deal with the shock.
Lock-dock: The zoo immediately closed and patrons were hurried inside buildings during the attack
Deadly: The dogs, which are smaller than Labrador retrievers, can be dangerous on their own by are deadly killers when hunting in packs
What went wrong? Both the zoo and police are investigating the death
The zoo was closed, and it was not clear when it would be reopen, authorities said.
‘The screams just kept coming and coming: “Someone help. Someone has to do something,”’ witness Angela Cinti, 20, who was visiting the zoowith her boyfriend told the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.
‘We were on our way to the polar bear exhibit when we heard the most horrible piercing screams,’ Ms Ciniti recalled. ‘Someone was begging for help, asking someone to do something.’
Guests recounted being hurried into the nearest building for safety, waiting for a half an hour according to Ms Cinit.
‘We were locked down in the building and told to stay inside,’ Ms Cinit told the paper. ‘We thought it was a problem with one of the animals that got loose. Then we were told it was an incident with the wild dogs and that a child had been hurt.’
Uncertainty: A security guard closes the gate to the park though it’s not yet clear whether he died from the fall or the attack
In May, 200 patrons were rushed inside buildings and the zoo was put on lock-down when nine of the dogs sneaked out of the exhibit and found its way into a secondary holding pen.
Alone, the dogs, which weigh up to 80 pounds, can be formidable, but in packs they are vicious — capable of hunting and killing prey many times their size.
They have been known to kill wildebeest and zebras, though they usually pursue less dangerous prey.
The dogs, which are endangered, are among the most deadly predators of the Serengeti Plain.
Their hunts end in a kill 80 per cent of the time. Lions have a success rate of just 30 per cent.
