US | child endangerment Zoo: Mom Was Dangling Kid Who Fell in Cheetah Pit Parents could face child endangerment charges By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Apr 12, 2015 10:03 AM CDT Copied Two eleven-week old cheetahs sit next to their mother Alima in the Zoo of Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Keystone, Patrick Straub) Zoo officials in Cleveland say a woman was dangling her 2-year-old son over a railing when he fell about 10 feet into a cheetah exhibit. "Unfortunately, we have a number of eyewitness accounts that point to the strong likelihood that the child was dangled over the rail," the executive director of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo tells CNN. The toddler's parents jumped in and pulled him to safety yesterday afternoon. The director says the cheetahs didn't go toward the boy or his parents. Zoo officials say the boy hurt his leg in the fall. Cleveland Fire Department spokesman Larry Gray says the toddler was treated for bumps and bruises at a hospital. The zoo says Cleveland Metroparks plans to seek child endangerment charges against the mother. Read These Next Travelers will likely cheer at this new advice from airports. Woman found 32 years after vanishing 'without a trace.' Melissa Gilbert: My husband would never harm a child. Iran just hit one of the Middle East's largest oil refineries. Report an error