{"id":186825,"date":"2026-04-06T06:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186825\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T06:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:35:24","slug":"toddler-injured-after-crawling-under-fence-near-wolf-enclosure-at-zooamerica-in-hersheypark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186825\/","title":{"rendered":"Toddler injured after crawling under fence near wolf enclosure at ZooAmerica in Hersheypark"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A toddler\u2019s hand got caught in a wolf\u2019s mouth Saturday after the child crawled into a restricted area at Hersheypark\u2019s zoo while their oblivious parents were allegedly distracted by their phones. <\/p>\n<p>The \u201cunsupervised\u201d 17-month-old was injured after managing to crawl under a perimeter fence to a metal fence surrounding the wolves\u2019 habitat, where the tot then stuck their hand through, a spokesperson for ZooAmerica said.<\/p>\n<p>A curious wolf grabbed the tot\u2019s tiny fingers in its mouth, according to the zoo, which is located inside the Pennsylvania park.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39000017\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/infant-injured-wolf-enclosure-zooamerica-125079901.jpg\" alt=\"Entrance to ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, featuring carvings of a wolf, eagle, and bear.\" class=\"wp-image-39000017\"  \/> A toddler was injured after crawling under a fence at ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park in Pennsylvania and sticking his hand into a wolf enclosure ZooAmerica\/Instagram<\/p>\n<p>The wolf \u201cbriefly\u201d took the child\u2019s hand into its mouth \u2014 consistent with canines\u2019 instinctive \u201cinvestigatory behavior\u201d when interacting with unfamiliar objects in their environment, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWolves investigate, test, and interact with unfamiliar objects through \u2018mouthing,\u2019 which can include gently taking something into the mouth without intent to injure,\u201d the spox said. <\/p>\n<p>Bystanders intervened and pulled the toddler away while the child\u2019s unsuspecting parents, Carrie Sortor, 43, and Stephen Wilson, 61, were allegedly looking at their phones on a bench some 25 to 30 feet away, Derry Township\u00a0police <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgal.com\/article\/hershey-zooamerica-parents-charged-child-sticks-hand-wolf-enclosure\/70937656\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">told WGAL<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The couple was blissfully unaware that their child was in danger and looked up when they heard the commotion coming from the wolf enclosure, cops told the local outlet. <\/p>\n<p>The child suffered only minor injuries during the incident, ZooAmerica officials stressed.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50146628;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39000020\" width=\"886\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/infant-injured-wolf-enclosure-zooamerica-125079902.jpg\" alt=\"Two wolves in an enclosure, one standing among bushes and another lying down howling.\" class=\"wp-image-39000020\"  \/>The wolf\u2019s actions were consistent with typical canine \u201cinvestigatory behavior\u201d when interacting with unfamiliar objects in their environment. ZooAmerica\/Instagram<\/p>\n<p>Both Sortor and Lititz have since been charged with a first-degree misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of children, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur habitats are designed with multiple layers of protection, and clear signage and barriers are in place to help ensure safe viewing. Guests are expected to remain within designated areas and closely supervise children at all times,\u201d ZooAmerica said.<\/p>\n<p>There are three wolves housed at the 11-acre zoo \u2014 Twister, a male wolf, and two sisters, Hazel and Freya \u2014 according to the zoo\u2019s website. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A toddler\u2019s hand got caught in a wolf\u2019s mouth Saturday after the child crawled into a restricted area&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[17454,11640,9,11,10,3909,58,1130],"class_list":{"0":"post-186825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-amusement-parks","9":"tag-animal-attacks","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-us-news","15":"tag-zoos"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}