OH - Park to press charges against mom who dropped 2y/o into cheetah pit

[jjenny]

Not to take away from the stupidity of the mother, but this exhibit is a disaster waiting to happen. What's with the ten foot fence all the way around, with a big opening in front of the pavilion? It kind of defeats the entire purpose of the fence, and only a ten foot drop down into the pit. A cheetah can jump up to 15 feet high. Which means that they could get out of there if they wanted to. Clearly a serious design error.

Seriously? The cheetahs can not get out, because there is a fence, and then there is railing over that fence.

 

[jjenny]

The fact that the cheetahs have never previously escaped, does not prove that the wall hight is sufficient to prevent their escape.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2011/02/tiger-maul-teens-san-francisco-zoo-provoked-report.html

What does this incident has to do with tiger escaping? Nobody escaped from the exhibit, the child was allegedly dangled over it.

 

[mikkismom]

Delaware Mom Facing Charges After Dangling Toddler Plummets Into Cheetah Pit At Cleveland Zoo

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories...ummets-into-cheetah-pit-at-cleveland-zoo.html

IIRC, another article said she is a child care worker!

 

[rob]

When I first heard this story, my first thought was, please Lord, don't let this parent have done this to get some money out of it. To start a go fund me page for an injured child, to sue the zoo cause her baby got ate/maimed. You hate to think this way, but it happens every day.
I'm just glad for the zoos sake that there was witnesses to what happened.

 

[KaaBoom]

Seriously? The cheetahs can not get out, because there is a fence, and then there is railing over that fence.

You are missing my point. There is no fence in front of the pavilion, so the rest of the fence is useless. People can get in and the animals could get out through the front of the pavilion. And yes, if a human being can jump down into the pit to rescue a child and get back out, I can guarantee you a cheetah can get out of it. A cheetah can jump a lot higher then a human being can.

Either the zoo should cut the fence down to the same hight as the wall of the pavilion, or put a barrier in front of the pavilion. I'm betting they are going to probably put windows in front of the pavilion, before they reopen it. Thats the only way to solve the problem. This is a zoo problem.

 

[KaaBoom]

What does this incident has to do with tiger escaping? Nobody escaped from the exhibit, the child was allegedly dangled over it.

I was pointing out a serious design issue with the exhibit. Just because the cats haven't gotten out in the past, doesn't mean they can't, and that is a serious safety issue for both the animals in the zoo, as well as for zoo visitors.

The woman should not have been able to drop her child into the pit in the first place, and people should not be able get in and out of the pit. Because if humans can get in and out of it, the animals can too.