A woman was dangling her two-year-old son over a railing at a zoo in Cleveland when he fell about three metres into a cheetah exhibit, zoo officials say.
The toddler's parents jumped in and pulled him to safety on Saturday afternoon. He was treated at a hospital for a few bumps and bruises, said Cleveland Fire Department spokesman, Larry Gray.
The cheetahs didn't go toward the boy or his parents, said Chris Kuhar, executive director of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
Several eyewitnesses saw the woman holding the child over the railing, Kuhar said in a statement.
"While this incident is disturbing to everyone, we are glad injuries were not any more severe," he said on Sunday.
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Cleveland Metroparks plans to seek child endangering charges against the mother on Monday.
A similar incident at a Pittsburgh zoo left a two-year-old boy dead in 2012. The child was fatally mauled after falling into a wild African dogs exhibit.
