Cincinnati zoo kills gorilla to save child

greenfire

Mon, May 30 2016, 2:03 pm

marina wrote:

no. What if the gorilla collapses on the child? No.

yes ~ another good point ... I'll try to remember not to sit on anybody

I already said I realized it obviously wasn't something that could be done safely

Skippy!!

Mon, May 30 2016, 6:06 pm

I'm sure that if the mother would have known that there was even a slight possibility of her child falling in to a cage of gorillas she would never have gone to the zoo in the first place. There should never have been an opening in a gorilla cage that a child could crawl through. Children some times wander off, it takes a second and they're gone especially in a crowded place. That's why we all instruct our children about what to do if they get lost. From the information we have I don't think the mom is at fault at all.

LittleDucky

Mon, May 30 2016, 6:12 pm

Skippy!! wrote:

Not saying she should go to jail or anything but she is to blame somewhat- if my kid told me they wanted to go in an enclosure repeatedly (according to one article I read) I would have held his hand tightly, explained why not, and perhaps moved away if he was still intent on going in.

Notsobusy

Mon, May 30 2016, 6:43 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

I would never dream that there is any danger at all of my child being able to get into an enclosure of a dangerous animal in a zoo. Why would I? The article I read said that she had a few kids with her. Maybe something happened to one of the other kids and she got distracted for a second. It happens all the time. Most of us do our best to watch our children, sometimes things happen. To me the only thing criminal is that it was possible for the child to get in. And that some people think they should have sacrificed the child to spare the gorilla's life.

Skippy!!

Mon, May 30 2016, 6:49 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

Why would she think that there was a way for him to get in?

youngishbear

Mon, May 30 2016, 7:05 pm

glutenless wrote:

Sacrificing babies to save gorillas?

A modest proposal indeed.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, May 30 2016, 8:03 pm

I was just there a few weeks ago. I am envisioning the gorilla area in my mind right now, and can't see how it happened. There must have been a very convoluted way to get in (unless he climbed up and fell in but it doesn't sound like that)

notshanarishona

Mon, May 30 2016, 8:23 pm

It makes it sound like the whole thing happened in a minute or two and that once the kid went through the first obstacle he fell in. At least from the way the news reported it, I would think the zoo has the most to answer too more than the parents. Of course you should never let your toddler run for a minute but who would think your toddler can get into such a place on his own.

ra_mom

Mon, May 30 2016, 8:34 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Reports say he climbed the initial 3 foot barrier into the bushes and then he fell 15 feet down to the moat.

seeker

Mon, May 30 2016, 11:32 pm

Anyone who talks about the mom being at fault: What if the "child" had been a 100+ lb adolescent with autism who loves animals, learns and engages a lot whenever he goes to the zoo, and can at times be unpredictable and hard to stop when he gets an idea in his head?

I'm on the side blaming the zoo for not adequately securing the enclosure (if you're going to blame anyone at all. And I think there is an argument to be made, but I don't know all the details. But if 3-foot barrier is correct... NOPE.)

mirror

Mon, May 30 2016, 11:39 pm

The Silverback Gorillas are not endangered! It's a scam!

Every ZOO has a BREEDING PROGRAM. They choose which animals to BREED and when. Then they TRADE the animal offspring with other zoos. They can EASILY ORDER another male silverback gorilla to replace this one.

The zoos can easily populate the world with Silverback Gorillas if they really wanted to. They just don't care.

greenfire

Tue, May 31 2016, 1:32 am

there seems to be footage of the child sitting down with the gorilla trying to protect him and get him out of the water ... and whilst it was also dragging the boy - it appeared that he was taking him away from all the screaming from people hanging over the edges & was allegedly shot with the boy sitting between his legs

imasoftov

Tue, May 31 2016, 4:50 am

mirror wrote:

A silverback is an adult male gorilla. There is no species called "silverback".

FranticFrummie

Tue, May 31 2016, 5:03 am

MrsDash wrote:

I honestly don't care if it was the last gorilla on earth, human life comes before animals.

I am a huge, HUGE animal lover - but if that were my child, I'd be the first one to grab a gun.

The zoo is definitely at fault here for not having a more secure enclosure. I only have one child, so I am not going to judge a mom with multiple kids, where one got away from her for a second. I've chaperoned enough school field trips to know that it's like herding cats, especially when there's something fascinating to see.

gp2.0

Tue, May 31 2016, 7:26 am

mirror wrote:

Wow. Silverback is a nickname for the western lowland gorilla, which is critically endangered.

Zoos can't just breed animals when and how they want. They put a male and some females together and hope for the best. Often the animals don't get along, ignore each other, hate each other, or just can't reproduce because they are so stressed by the zoo environment.

Next. They can't give birth until 8/9 years old. They carry their young for 9 months. They usually have just one baby. Twins are rare. If they were able to reproduce like rabbits, they wouldn't be endangered.

If you have no idea what you're talking about, best not to display your ignorance.

Raisin

Tue, May 31 2016, 8:34 am

gp2.0 wrote:

Gorillas sound almost exactly like humans. I guess we are a lot less picky when choosing a mate however, and a lot more able to tolerate stressful conditions. Even enslaved humans (eg black american slaves) reproduced well.

FTR I think the zoo did the right thing. Very very sad. I don't think this is anyone's fault and I'm not sure why there is a compulsion to blame someone. Accidents happen. Maybe fencing round enclosures can be improved.