17-Month-Old Sticks Hand Into Wolf Enclosure While Parents on Phones — Child Injured, Charges Filed

A toddler from Pennsylvania suffered a minor injury after he stuck his hand inside a wolf enclosure at the zoo, while his parents were on their phones. Both parents were charged with a misdemeanor as a result of the incident.

The parents of a 17-month-old were charged with a count of misdemeanor for endangering the welfare of a child. The incident occurred on April 4th, according to the Derry Township Police Department. The couple’s 17-month-old son was unsupervised when he “squeezed through a small opening in a wooden barrier perimeter fence,” at the wooden enclosure at Hershey’s Zoo America park in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

A wolf approached the little boy, who stuck his hand through the metal fence into the enclosure and “instinctively and naturally” took the boy’s hand in his hand. Meanwhile, both of the parents, Wilson and Sortor, were allegedly sitting on a bench 25 to 30 feet away from the child while they were looking at their phones.

According to the police, Wilson and Sortor walked into a seating area, which was almost 30 feet away from the wolf enclosure, while their toddler wandered off toward the exhibit. Wilson and Sortor then sat on the bench, where they were “paying attention to their cellphones” until they heard a “commotion.” The commotion, police said, was the sound of the bystanders at the zoo who pulled the little boy away from the wolf.

According to a statement from a spokesperson for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts that was provided to local ABC affiliate WHTH, the boy was never actually inside the enclosure. The statement read, “Our habitat are designed with multiple layers of protection and clear signage and barriers are in place to ensure safe viewing. Guests are expected to remain within designated areas and closely supervised children at all times.”

Local NBC affiliate WGAL reported on more of the statement from Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, which said that after reviewing the alleged incident, it was determined that the boy “was able to crawl under an exterior perimeter fence, travel to the primary metal enclosure surrounding the wolf habitat, and put his hand through the fence. A wolf approached and made contact with the child’s hand. This type of response is consistent with natural animal behavior and was not a sign of aggression.”

The spokesperson described the boy’s injuries as minor. The court dates of Wilson and Sortor are not yet publicly available.