A MAN dressed in a gorilla costume was shot with a tranquilizer dart after being mistaken for a real gorilla, according to local Spanish reports.

    A veterinarian at Spain’s Tenerife’s Loro Parque zoo mistakenly shot the zoo employee after no one told him he wasn’t actually a gorilla, reports said.

    The disguised worker fell to the ground and was soon transported to a local hospital. He arrived in serious condition, reportedly from an allergic reaction to the dart, which contained a powerful sedative capable of putting down a gorilla, Huffington Post reported.

    La Opinión de Tenerife reports that the man had donned a gorilla suit and was running around the park in a drill to prepare employees for an actual animal escape. The tranquilizer-wielding veterinarian apparently did not know the exercise was in progress and shot the zoo worker in the leg from a distance.

    Local police arrived at the zoo following reports that a gorilla was loose. The incident was reportedly deemed an accident.

    (SD-Agencies)