Cincinatti Zoo forced to kill gorilla after child climbs into enclosure

[Logan0327]

so we imprison gorillas then when a human steps foot in his home we kill the gorilla for getting near a human lol

 

[Lantern Venom]

did the news coverage mention any of these possible happenings at the zoo and I missed hearing about them?... if so, my bad... I'm sure if one of these had happened, it would have made it into the news coverage, as well... I heard NOTHING pertaining to any of those possibilities...

Nope, I haven't heard.anything about precipitating factors. That's the problem with drawing any conclusion about blame at this point: there is insufficient data.

 

[SwordOfAzrael]

This could have gone either way; it's better
to be safe than sorry. To an extent, the zoo had no
choice but to react the way that they did.

The parents are, ultimately, responsible. Still, the
question of how a child was so easily able to get into
the enclosure is also a fair one to ask.

 

[chamber-music]

I know toddler leashes are controversial but I think this is one of those situations in which it is probably a good idea to keep your kids on one.

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

Witness Kim O’Connor told NBC affiliate WLWT-TV that she overheard the child saying he wanted to jump into the gorilla’s enclosure. She said the boy’s mother was caring for multiple children at the time.
“The mother’s like, ‘No, you’re not. No, you’re not,'” O’Connor said, adding that her group ended up hearing the gunshot that killed the gorilla.

Other, more graphic recordings show the gorilla dragging the young boy through the moat before towering over him on all fours.

Here's one of the videos https://***********/_DMVern/status/736932279755386880

The statement added that officials’ first response was to call the gorillas out of the exhibit, an order that two female gorillas followed, but Harambe did not. Tranquilizing the 450-pound animal was not an option, the statement said, because the child was in “imminent” danger and Harambe may have become agitated.

I understand people want someone punished, but it looks like just a tragic situation to me.

 

[Sawyer]

I know toddler leashes are controversial but I think this is one of those situations in which it is probably a good idea to keep your kids on one.

I don't see why they're controversial. Kids that young are literally just pets that haven't yet developed an expectation of human rights.

 

[Donner]

Here's one of the videos https://***********/_DMVern/status/736932279755386880

I understand people want someone punished, but it looks like just a tragic situation to me.

I'm not a fan of that one part you quoted about the mother looking after multiple children at the time. Don't have so many children in your care if you can't watch them all. Or get some help. Seems pretty straightforward.

I get that all parents want to do is their best when it comes to their children and s*** happens anyways, but an endangered animal lost its life because of it happening. And it's not the first time.

 

[Chesterfield]

"mommy loves you I'm right here"...Oh really? So wtf were you when YOUR kid decided to navigate himself down and into a Gorilla enclosure? Ridiculous.

 

[Golgo-13]

I'm on the fence about zoos in general. On one hand, a lot of the animals are house in a fraction of the room they would be in in the wild. On the other hand, some animals would be extinct if it wasn't due to the knowledge funding, public education and other things learned from breeding them in zoos, and other such facilities.

This is a sad situation. People shouldn't be angry at the zoo but more so the mom, because if it had gone the other way and the Gorilla had killed the child, people would be crying about the zoo not taking appropriate force to stop the killing.

 

[terry78]

Yeah in this instance I think there was talking about him being used to breed since there are so few left. In that case I'm fine with him being in captivity. But it's a massive loss.

 

[Breogan]

They should look at it as animals defending their young from another animal.

Female. The males are gentle with their young to an extent as well,...

I think some are looking at individual images and are projecting, that the gorilla was "defending" or "gentle" with the kid, and ignoring how it grabbed the kid by the foot and dragged it back and fourth through the mote.
They couldn't risk it next dragging the kid up a rock and potentially smashing it's head.

...but he could have brought the hammer down with the two front arms. Males tend to do that when provoked.

True

I don't think it would have targeted the kid though. I think it was being protective.

People probably drop hats and toys and other junk, that the animal then grabs and runs around and plays with and covets, hovers over and "protects" from being taken away by the handlers.
Maybe in that sense it was "protecting" it's new rag toy from being taken away.

Wait and see was no longer an option.

 

[DeadPresident]

Hopefully one day we'll enter this weird period in human history where parents are actually held responsible for their inability to monitor their children.

 

[moviedoors]

I understand people want someone punished, but it looks like just a tragic situation to me.

I'm just gonna go with this. I won't comment too in depth because I can't bare to watch any of the videos.

 

[Golgo-13]

It seems to me the Zoo was more worried about the legal ramifications, law suite costs, if the child had been killed. Not to mention the flawed design with the exhibit that allowed this kid to simply waltz in there and fall…

 

[Breogan]

More pathetic human behavior from this-

Wrong woman and child blasted with troll hate on face book - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...t=a.10150253046885691.506223.627220690&type=3

 

[Quasimod0]

A gorilla being shot and killed to save a boy's life is hardly anything to go crazy over. I've seen some truly awful, horrible comments on the internet about this. Everything from "this kid deserved to die for being stupid" and "maybe they should have let him die to teach the parents a lesson".
Some people are just terrible.

 

[Zod]

Poor kid and poor gorilla...I honestly blame the parents for not keeping an eye on their kid. Also the zoo should have higher fences.

 

[Mani-Man]

That is a truly terrible situation.
You would think in 2016 its impossible to get into the area of animals...but a child was able to do so.
It doesnt make the zoo look good.

But its interesting to see that so many other countrys handled such or even more dangerous ones...without any dead.
They couldnt have distracted him or anything else?...i dont think so, they simply choose the one that seemed the easiest.

But it was not the safest.
What if they missed or didnt kill him right away?
The gorilla could have acted out of control and killed the child...it was very dangerous.

Interesting that americans first instinct is to kill something...shows a messed up mindset to begin with.
Also that people act like this gorilla was "just some animal" shows little respect for live that is not human...really sad.

 

[Flint Marko]

Those videos are interesting. I don't know anything about primate behavior or what the Gorilla is doing with the child but it doesn't necessarily look aggressive. Either way, from what I understand, there wasn't much the zoo could do that wouldn't endanger the kid. Apparently a tranquilizer would have taken a few minutes to take effect and would have potentially aggravated the gorilla. It's a terrible situation all around, but I think they made the right call given the hand they were dealt.

 

[Tilapia]

Was the father around? I probably would have jumped in there and try to distract the animal. I don't have a child myself so I can't say what I could or would have done. I thought someone would jump down before it got to a shoot and kill situation. Or maybe that would have caused the gorilla to become even more protective and violent toward the child. I don't think it would have stopped me though.

 

[Boom]

Cincinnati resident here.

I was at the zoo the morning this happened. Didn't get to witness it firsthand (nor would I want to), but gorillas are my favorite animals, and we've had this particular gorilla since I was a child. Needless to say this is a huge punch in the gut.

Male gorillas are highly territorial, and they're trickier to read. So if he was "dragging" the child, I can understand putting the child's life first and not taking a risk.

But, as a frequent patron of this zoo, I will say one thing. Parents at this zoo are the absolute worst. It is truly unbelievable how neglectful and inconsiderate they can be. I was there for only an hour and a half that morning because whenever it's a busy day at the zoo, it's complete chaos. Kids running around everywhere with no supervision.

So long story short, **** this kid's parents. Situation was completely avoidable.

 

[Victarion]

It is truthfully hard to predict what could happen.

They don't shoot the gorilla - it accidentally drags the kid facedown through the water, inadvertently killing him.

The shoot the gorilla with a tranq - it startles and accidentally kills the kid

They shoot the gorilla with a bullet and it misses its mark - gorilla startles and kills the kid

Its a hard decision to make in the heat of the moment. The parents here aren't without blame - keep an eye on your kids, seriously - but the internet's overreacted to the whole thing.

 

[Golgo-13]

More pathetic human behavior from this-

Wrong woman and child blasted with troll hate on face book - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...t=a.10150253046885691.506223.627220690&type=3

So, the woman's name was leaked and people assume it's this lady?

In the vid the child doesn't look white at all.

 

[Tilapia]

Those videos are interesting. I don't know anything about primate behavior or what the Gorilla is doing with the child but it doesn't necessarily look aggressive. Either way, from what I understand, there wasn't much the zoo could do that wouldn't endanger the kid. Apparently a tranquilizer would have taken a few minutes to take effect and would have potentially aggravated the gorilla. It's a terrible situation all around, but I think they made the right call given the hand they were dealt.

Dominant male gorillas definitely seem to be the most involved of all the great apes in caring for their off spring, probably more so than men in some instances. Male orangutans seem to just duke it out for mating rights and are particularly solitary. Chimps will eat each other if threatened. They are more like the crazy mobster family.

 

[Mani-Man]

It is truthfully hard to predict what could happen.

They don't shoot the gorilla - it accidentally drags the kid facedown through the water, inadvertently killing him.

The shoot the gorilla with a tranq - it startles and accidentally kills the kid

They shoot the gorilla with a bullet and it misses its mark - gorilla startles and kills the kid

Its a hard decision to make in the heat of the moment. The parents here aren't without blame - keep an eye on your kids, seriously - but the internet's overreacted to the whole thing.

In all this situations, you expect the gorilla to kill the child...but can you be 100% sure about that?
The thing is...for this existed no "perfect" solution because it was unpredictable.

Which makes it so very sad.
There os no definitive answer on how this could have gone.
Which is why those sign carrying *******s piss me off the most.
They act like they would have done something better...yeah right stupid, afterwards its easy to say what could have worked.