Father risked the life of his two-year-old daughter to take a photo with an elephant and ended up in jail

Father entered the elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo with his 2-year-old daughter and nearly ended in tragedy

Elephants are one of the most striking animals in zoos, it is customary for visitors to take photos and in some parks to feed them, but a father who was with his two year old daughter crossed all the lines to take a selfie: imprudently he entered the animal enclosure with the baby in his arms and an elephant fell upon them.

In a statement, the authorities of san diego zoo they said that the man, identified as Jose navarrete 25 years, “illegally and deliberately entered a habitat that is home to our Asian and African elephants.” Police arrested the reckless father after receiving calls that a man had put his daughter’s life in danger by entering the area where the animals live.

// China zoo brutal attack: tourists stoned kangaroo because they wanted to blow it up

San Diego police sentenced Navarrete to jail for cruelty to children and was held on $ 100,000 bond. The police were investigating whether the father was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In the video filmed by one of the witnesses, it can be seen that one of the animals becomes angry upon noticing that the man has entered its habitat and attempted to attack it. At this moment, Navarrete escaped the compound and walked through the electrified fence, the two-year-old fell from his arms and is almost trampled by the elephant. Fortunately, no one got hurt.

You could hear people in the background screaming for father to leave the stage. “We were there. We were 20 meters away. Screaming, my friend, what are you doing? I got out of there! Take the baby out! What are you doing? I left the elephant compound, ” a witness told ABC 10News.

Lori Ortale, another person at the scene, told KSWB-TV that she heard a woman screaming: “José, stop!before Navarrete jumps over the fence and enters the elephant enclosure.

// Lion had 5 cubs with two lionesses in zoo and they had vasectomy

At the moment, it is not known whether the man has lawyers to defend himself in court. Her daughter was left to her mother.

The San Diego Zoo is one of the largest in all of the United States, home to approximately 12,000 animals of more than 650 species, and is visited by four million people annually. The park was a pioneer in the world for not using cages and build enclosures that recreate the natural habitats of animals.