Cincinnati Zoo kills gorilla after child gets into his cage, May 28, 2016

[trigger]

Apr 14 2015

CINCINNATI -- A male gorilla from Texas is joining the Cincinnati Zoo for some “spring training.”

Harambe is a 16-year-old Western lowland silverback from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.

He’s being placed into a social group with two 19-year-old females, Chewie and Mara -- basically, so he can learn how to behave like a grown-up.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news...a-comes-to-cincinnati-zoo-for-spring-training

Video of Harambe

Gorilla named Harambe goes out for first time 2015
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jKGSmRC7FUk

(press play on video then X it out then it will play)
Harambe meets gal pals
http://youtube4.download/convert.php?v=ugTKORXROvA

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I don't know why it angers me so much to hear the mother screaming "Mommy's here!" No, Mom... you weren't there and that is why this happened.

I noticed that immediately, too Lola & it was so irritating.....FGS - be a parent & watch your freaking kids.

 

[DexterMorgan]

I know this is frustrating but Mom's can't be everywhere 100% of the time. It is just an unfortunate incident - not Mom's fault IMO

Disagree. Those animals can kill at anytime. So the zoo does its best to keep those animals from not getting you. So parents need to do their part to make sure their 4 year old kids don't hop over multiple barriers while doing a 10ft added jump to pet the animals. Jmo.

Trust no one.

So parents need to be watching and taking care of their kids. The zoo has multiple warnings as well. Jmo.

So Billy. Get your butt over here NOW. Is what the parents should be saying on any outting. Whether Disneyland or a camping trip or the zoo. jmo

Btw. I'm sorry if the parents couldn't watch or control their kid.

But that's on them. And them alone. Jmo

 

[Montjoy]

I don't think I really agree with the people saying zoos should be designed to keep 4 year olds/kids/people out of the habitats since they're designed to keep the animals in. It's not a playground where people should be running and climbing freely. There are barriers and signs. You can't stop the world from being stupid and not reading them or obeying them. If that was really an issue, people would be "falling " in exhibits all the time.

Well, if you care about animals, think about it from this perspective: better design would not just have saved a child, but it would have saved an endangered gorilla. You can't expect a 4 year old to read signs, or every parent to be diligent 100% of the time. So even if you don't care about the people who get killed (and I'm not saying you don't), how about the animals?

 

[Bravo]

RSBM

Hope your grand dog feels better asap !

Awww thanks. So very kind of you. She will be fine. I'm just a sap for animals and especially my 2 Grand Doggy Labs.

 

[LietKynes]

I don't think I really agree with the people saying zoos should be designed to keep 4 year olds/kids/people out of the habitats since they're designed to keep the animals in. It's not a playground where people should be running and climbing freely. There are barriers and signs. You can't stop the world from being stupid and not reading them or obeying them. If that was really an issue, people would be "falling " in exhibits all the time.

I don't think it took "seconds" for a kid to climb through several barriers. I would imagine it had to have taken some work. Also the mom said he kept making comments about entering the water. Wouldn't that make you move away or back away or pick up the child? Not turn your back or whatever she was doing to not see her child disappear into an area to fall into a moat. I guess I don't understand why a child that small was allowed to be walking freely so close to an area like this.


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SABBM snipped for brevity

Was it the kid's mom who recorded after the boy was in the gorilla enclosure ? Or someone else ?
If the mom recorded this-- what was she doing prior to the time he breached the barriers ?
Just thinking the fall alone into the concrete moat could have severely injured him.
The last time we went to a zoo and saw a large ape exhibit was a zoo where there was a very deep, dry moat and a large chain link fence on the viewers' side, close to 9 feet I'm assuming. A person wanting to gain access would have to scale that fence and drop many feet into a moat ---and would probably perish in the attempt.
Still wondering what kid of barrier he went over and why no one stopped him ?
:moo:

 

[KaaBoom]

The zoo should sue mom first. To stop her from suing them. Every zoo I have been to has signs plus warnings when entering the zoo. Now the zoo should sue as a reminder to others to watch your kids.

We watch the animals. So watch your kids. Geez. It seems like the public is dumbing down in the 2000s. Jmo.

Those signs are a variation of the old “We are not responsible for accidents on this property” signs. Guess what? Thats up to a court to decide. Posting a sign doesn’t change the liability of the property owner.

If the zoo sues the mother, more then likely she will counter-sue, and win.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Actually I only Googled it to find the video to post. I have seen stations like that in Japan years ago. There they are known as suicide barriers. The railroads don’t really care much about the safety of their passengers falling into the path of a train, but in some spots suicides cause major disruptions, and affect the reliability of the rail service, so those stations get suicide barriers.

For the life of me I can’t understand why they are not standard in all major rail stations. Not only to prevent people from getting hit by the train, but just too keep people from being injured from falling off the edge of the platform.

Agree. I have friends that still live in NY. And that barrier on subway platforms wasn't mentioned as a new thing.

But if so. That's great too.

Especially since sick people would jump off the edge or be pushed off the edge by a sick person while a train is pulling up at high speeds.

Jmo. So if that barrier protects one from getting killed in a big city.

Then that barrier is worth the money.

I salute.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

RSBM

Pretty sure a ladder would've worked.
It seems they (zoo staff) should have tried to distract the gorilla--and not just shoot it right away ? And what if they'd shot the child by accident ?

Then again perhaps not. Trying to think of possible options to having to shoot a magnificent animal.
We are losing some of Earth's precious animals and that's tragic.

They didn't shoot right away...

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...ital-after-falling-into-gorilla-pen/85095094/

The boy was with the 400-pound animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation "life-threatening," Maynard said.

10 minutes is a long time in an emergency situation.

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[DexterMorgan]

I truly hope every single animal activist that promotes the love for animals either volunteer time or donate money to their local zoos.

Especially for the animals that would have died if the zoos left them to the wild to become poached and extinct. Jmo.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Imo. The zoo knew what the animal was capable of. So they did their due diligence to save a child since mom was having her own outting and problems while her 4 year old decided to become a ninja and jump pass all obstacles to pet the 400 lb beast.

Btw. What if mom wanted the kid gone? But instead of a accidental hot car death or accidental gunshot.

She decided to do a accidental fall in the gorilla cage. Jmo.

We don't know moms intentions. So we can't blame the zoo while moms was so incoherent to what her child was doing. Jmo.

 

[JeannaT]

RSBM

Thanks for posting that, jjenny !
All the zookeepers had to do was walk into the enclosure and bring some extra food with them , take the child and leave. Simple.
Or just use a tranq.
There was never any need to kill the animal. Clearly misinformed as to the behavior and care of a gorilla.
MOO

In my opinion, this is one of the worst things the public can do in a situation like this. Imagine they know exactly how to handle a gorilla who is slinging a child around, and suggest that the zookeepers who actually know this gorilla, and know gorilla behavior have no idea what to do.

Unless you're actually about to post that you're a leading expert in gorilla behavior, and you know this actual gorilla personally, it's not "simple". That gorilla is incredibly large and powerful, and extremely well-cared for, and it's highly doubtful that a little treat of food would solve all the problems.

 

[JeannaT]

Imo. The zoo knew what the animal was capable of. So they did their due diligence to save a child since mom was having her own outting and problems while her 4 year old decided to become a ninja and jump pass all obstacles to pet the 400 lb beast.

Btw. What if mom wanted the kid gone? But instead of a accidental hot car death or accidental gunshot.

She decided to do a accidental fall in the gorilla cage. Jmo.

We don't know moms attentions. So we can't blame the zoo while moms was so incoherent to what her child was doing. Jmo.

I'm pretty sure we can rule out that mom took the child to the zoo for the express purpose of getting him mauled by a gorilla.

 

[DexterMorgan]

There are plenty of animal activist. Now how many are lawyers that would actually fight for the zoo and not some easy case of a 4 year old becoming a ninja to jump all barriers while the parents are not seeing anything until the child is face to face with a guerrilla that didn't come there to harm her child. Jmo

The lawyers of mom would definitely look like money grabbers. Jmo

 

[al66pine]

"Originally Posted by LietKynes All the zookeepers had to do was walk into the enclosure and bring some extra food with them , take the child and leave. Simple. MOO"

RSBM
Ok... you go first. I'll be right behind you.
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Liet & Wyle
You two go ahead. The others & I can catch up in a little while. j/k


Oh, IIRC, Montjoy(?) said bananas work well - at least in a cartoon.

 

[DexterMorgan]

I'm pretty sure we can rule out that mom took the child to the zoo for the express purpose of getting him mauled by a gorilla.

We say that about every hot car death as well. Jmo.

We don't think the parent left their kid in a 400 degree car for 4 hours on purpose.

They were just distracted. Lol. Disagree.

 

[monster12]

Well, if you care about animals, think about it from this perspective: better design would not just have saved a child, but it would have saved an endangered gorilla. You can't expect a 4 year old to read signs, or every parent to be diligent 100% of the time. So even if you don't care about the people who get killed (and I'm not saying you don't), how about the animals?

I wasn't saying the animal should've been killed. I believe the animal was doing what an animal would do and unfortunately suffered the consequences of someone's poor choices. I don't blame the animal.

I'm not saying parents can be diligent 100% of the time but also shouldn't have their young children out of sight around such an area especially after he said a few times he wanted to go into the water with the animal. More often then not, when a small child repeatedly says something like that, they are doing it unless someone physically stops them and in this case, that did not happen. And yes the child can't read, which again leads me to the fact he should not have been alone near such an area. The person responsible for him needed to be alert at that time for him.


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[JeannaT]

Agree to a point. You are right. Professional bull handlers do it all the time to stop the bull from bashing in a downed rider. So they all divert the attention of the bull by multiple people running around. So that could have worked.

But I do disagree with a non professional just jumping in. This could have caused them massive damage like the lady who gotten mauled by her friend's Chimpanzee and lost hands, sight and was totally unrecognizable to this day.

So I think the best method took place in this case inregards to certain things.

But I do agree that the handlers could have diverted the attention of the animal and then shot it if all failed. But I still haven't seen the video. So I don't know.

What I really meant by posting that after the boy fell in, although the crowd was in full panic, I doubt it even occurred to anyone to jump down that cliff to help out. I agree, that I doubt they would have been very helpful - my point was, though, that the enclosure was sufficient to keep humans out, as evidenced by the fact that no one else even thought to jump in. This one boy, God knows what he was thinking or how he will turn out (my guess is not well at all) thought nothing of hurling himself down into that pit.

So although to hundreds of thousands of people this enclosure was sufficient to keep people out, all it took is one child who probably has behavioral issues to decide to hurl himself down there.

And my guess is, the reason he was taken to the hospital was for injuries sustained in that long fall, not for injuries sustained by the gorilla. That fall is TOO FAR for a normal human to risk.

 

[Montjoy]

I wasn't saying the animal should've been killed. I believe the animal was doing what an animal would do and unfortunately suffered the consequences of someone's poor choices. I don't blame the animal.

Oh, I wasn't saying that you did blame the animal or think it should be killed. I don't think you do. Nor do I. But you did mention the design of the zoo in your post. And I think that this event was most avoidable with respect for the design of the enclosure.

People are much more fallible than structures are -- someone upthread compared this to a child jumping over a railing at a mall -- that could take two seconds of inattention of a parent. I humbly submit that if the enclosure had been better designed, to protect both people and animals, this wouldn't have happened.

 

[JeannaT]

I wonder how many bystanders could have stepped in and grabbed that child after his mother was clearly unable to supervise him sufficiently.

I can't believe the number of times I've witnessed a tiny child open a store door and wander out in the parking lot while adults watch in a bored fashion.

How many adults stood there and witnessed this child breeching the gorilla enclosure, and did nothing?