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

[JeannaT]

Maybe "slide down" is a better term than "fall" in this case.

 

[sonjay]

I just wonder if the gorilla had killed the baby what the reaction would be.

People would be blaming the zoo and calling them all sorts of horrible names for deciding not to shoot Harambe and thus letting the little boy die.

 

[KaaBoom]

He reportedly told his mother he wanted to get into the water (in the enclosure). Then he had to get under (or over) 3 feet fence and four feet of bushes. I don't see how he could have slipped. It's not like you go over the fence and fall into enclosure.

Actually that is exactly what it is like. You go over the railing and you fall into the enclosure.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

People would be blaming the zoo and calling them all sorts of horrible names for deciding not to shoot Harambe and thus letting the little boy die.

Yup

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[jjenny]

Actually that is exactly what it is like. You go over the railing and you fall into the enclosure.

Not true. You have to go through four feet of bushes first.

 

[drjones]

I think the fact that this child jumped down a 15 foot embankment is being glossed over too easily here.

Yes, 4 year olds do impulsive things. They color on the walls. They bonk the dog in the face with a toy. They dart away from Mom in a crowded mall.

But they don't jump down 15 foot cement embankments. I am still shaking my head at the lack of survival instinct this child had.

he was 3, depending on the exact months this could be a slight or a significant difference.

i believe all we have to suggest that he went over the edge on purpose is what the one woman witness said in the TV interview? judging by multiple pictures of the enclosure, and my experience with children of that age, im not entirely convinced that he knew there was a big drop off there and purposefully jumped off. its possible sure, but it seems extremely unlikely and without strong evidence to suggest he did im not buying it just yet.

this is where someone chimes in that he said he was going to do it and then did just that! lol

 

[jjenny]

he was 3, depending on the exact months this could be a slight or a significant difference.

i believe all we have to suggest that he went over the edge on purpose is what the one woman witness said in the TV interview? judging by multiple pictures of the enclosure, and my experience with children of that age, im not entirely convinced that he knew there was a big drop off there and purposefully jumped off. its possible sure, but it seems extremely unlikely and without strong evidence to suggest he did im not buying it just yet.

this is where someone chimes in that he said he was going to do it and then did just that! lol

There is 3 foot railing. Then there is 4 feet of bushes. Then there is 15 feet drop. So one is not going to fall in just by going over the railing. One then has to go through 4 feet of bushes.

 

[JeannaT]

he was 3, depending on the exact months this could be a slight or a significant difference.

i believe all we have to suggest that he went over the edge on purpose is what the one woman witness said in the TV interview? judging by multiple pictures of the enclosure, and my experience with children of that age, im not entirely convinced that he knew there was a big drop off there and purposefully jumped off. its possible sure, but it seems extremely unlikely and without strong evidence to suggest he did im not buying it just yet.

this is where someone chimes in that he said he was going to do it and then did just that! lol

There were multiple witnesses who agree he stated several times that he was going in the water. And then he did it.

 

[KaaBoom]

Again, another thing I'd like to have accurate info on. When he breached the barrier (via crawling under the scrubbery...), were adults (i.e., parent, others) calling to him to come back and he turned to face those speaking to him, all while backing up and falling over the embankment? IMO, I could see how it could have happened that way.

One witness tried to grab him, but it was too late. If she couldn’t grab him, it was probably too late to call him back.

 

[sonjay]

he was 3, depending on the exact months this could be a slight or a significant difference.

i believe all we have to suggest that he went over the edge on purpose is what the one woman witness said in the TV interview? judging by multiple pictures of the enclosure, and my experience with children of that age, im not entirely convinced that he knew there was a big drop off there and purposefully jumped off. its possible sure, but it seems extremely unlikely and without strong evidence to suggest he did im not buying it just yet.

this is where someone chimes in that he said he was going to do it and then did just that! lol

BBM. That's what has been reported. That's what he said, then that's what he did.

 

[drjones]

Fell? Purposely? Doesn't that mean jumped?

i think she believes she saw him go over the edge into the moat on purpose, the fact that it seems like such a bizarre thing for him to have done to virtually everyone makes me think that maybe it is not what happened, the pictures of the bushes and the edge where it drops down support this possibility.

she may have seen him deliberately go through the fence, and quickly moving thru the bushes, and when he came out of the bushes he may have gone right over the edge and it might have looked exactly like he did it on purpose.

 

[drjones]

BBM. That's what has been reported. That's what he said, then that's what he did.

right, and thats why i included it so that someone else wouldnt point it out in rebuttal for the 57th time in the thread

 

[jjenny]

The enclosure design includes 3 foot railing, 4 feet of bushes, and 15 foot drop. So if you fall off the railing, you not going to go right into the moat. You have to go through four feet of bushes before the drop. However, it is clearly not designed to keep humans that want to get in from getting in. I think all zoos need to adjust designs to make it difficult for humans to get in. Because clearly the animals pay the price for humans getting in.

 

[sonjay]

This is the only security breach at Gorilla World since it opened in 1978.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/Saturday-w...o-s-Gorilla-World-since-1978-opening/39787050

If it were possible to accidentally "fall" over the fence and into the enclosure, it would have happened more than once in nearly 40 years.

 

[drjones]

There were multiple witnesses who agree he stated several times that he was going in the water. And then he did it.

i think its clear i was specifically referring to someone claiming to have seen him go over the edge on purpose, unless you are aware of a second person claiming to have actually seen that? im not aware of that.

 

[sonjay]

right, and thats why i included it so that someone else wouldnt point it out in rebuttal for the 57th time in the thread

If people didn't claim 57 times that it was accidental, there wouldn't be a need for 57 rebuttals.

 

[drjones]

If people didn't claim 57 times that it was accidental, there wouldn't be a need for 57 rebuttals.

i think you are missing the point - the point is that it doesnt address what is being discussed, it is a useless comment that people just keep repeating... apparently that is going to continue.

 

[KaaBoom]

Not true. You have to go through four feet of bushes first.

That's great if you are a butterfly that can sit on a leaf. If you weigh more then that, you are probably going to fall. The four feet of bushes is questionable too. It might be four feet to the ends of the branches, but that would put you over the water. Even that looks more like three feet then four feet.

 

[sonjay]

i think you are missing the point - the point is that it doesnt address what is being discussed, it is a useless comment that people just keep repeating... apparently that is going to continue.

Suggesting that the boy didn't intend to go into the moat doesn't address what's being discussed, either. It's a useless comment that people just keep repeating.

 

[JeannaT]

i think its clear i was specifically referring to someone claiming to have seen him go over the edge on purpose, unless you are aware of a second person claiming to have actually seen that? im not aware of that.

I'm not trying to be snarky or argumentative, but how would you witness someone "go over the edge on purpose"? What he did, was state he was going in the water, he went over the fence, through the brush and slid down into the water.

How would "going over the edge on purpose" look, if not like that? What other evidence would you need that it was purposeful?

Again, I'm not trying to be snarky, and his behavior is certainly bizarre. But unless he stood up at the edge of the moat, after having crossed the fence and run through the shrubs, and announced, "and now, I'm going to continue my mission to get in the water that I said I would do a moment ago by sliding down this embankment", how could it be more clear that it was purposeful?