Cincinnati Zoo kills gorilla to protect small child in enclosure

Apparently a toddler eluded the attention of his parents and managed to infiltrate the area housing the gorilla exhibit.
Screams attracted the attention of the male gorilla to the toddler who had fallen into the moat area.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/2...illa-to-protect-small-child-in-enclosure.html

The animal rights folks are out in full force condemning the zoo's decision to put down the gorilla and blaming the parents for not watching the toddler. Some of the more extreme comments I've read on-line include stating a dead child is better than a dead endangered gorilla.

Yeah...that was an actual comment.

The situation is unfortunate having to put down a gorilla, however the Cincinnati zoo made the proper call. A tranquilizer dart takes time to knock the animal out and may have agitated it further. A 400 lb. gorilla is very capable of slamming a toddler's body against a wall. As it is the gorilla grabbed the child by his legs and started to pull him through the water.

It was a tense situation, a decision needed to made quickly and the zoo decided to call in their dangerous animal team and used a firearm to dispatch the gorilla.

Again, unfortunate. These are an endangered species and I understand many are upset about it, but a human life should take precedence at all times.

Yet, for many, animal life has more value.

Human beings take precedence, the zoo acted properly to rescue the child from an unknown. Going forward zoos need to "toddler proof" their enclosures to avoid another unfortunate incident like this having to put an animal down.

 

Of course the right thing was done. But one hates seeing a gorilla killed too. What gets my goat is that parents would not watch a child that age close enough to keep something like this from happening. I watched mine when they were that age like a hawk zeroing in on a dove.

They should sue and charge the parents for the cost of the gorilla.

 

I'm mixed about that. Ultimately it is the parent's responsibility particularly when the child openly stated "I'm going in the water," meaning the moat in the gorilla exhibit.

I have no children of my own, so I will reserve judgement to those who have raised toddlers how difficult it might be to watch them every second. It's very possible the parents were negligent, but I don't know.

This was preventable for sure, and as I say, going forward Zoos can work on making sure this is a very isolated incident, mainly by child-proofing enclosures and posting visible signs about WATCHING your children at all times or be subject to removal from the premises. If a kid starts to climb a fence or crawl under it, and the parents seem oblivious...zoo staff should walk them out of the facility. A kid is just being a kid, and I agree parents should be mindful of their own particularly around dangerous animal enclosures.

None of us want a repeat of what happened.

 

It amazes me how easy it is for small objects to penetrate zoo enclosures and Death Stars....fire the designers, I say.

 

#GorillaLivesMatter

 

"Because of your lousy parenting we had to go to Petco to replace him - now pony up the $49.95!"

 

The kid will probably grow up to be a serial killer anyway.

 

This is quite a contrast to what happened in the Miami zoo a few weeks ago when a zookeeper was being mauled by a Tiger. In that case, they shot the Tiger with a tranquilizer and then sat and watched for 20 minutes while the Tiger was eating the zookeeper. Clearly in that case they should have shot the Tiger right away. It was an incredibly stupid mistake that probably cost that zookeeper her life.

So I think that was in mind with the gorilla. Watching the gorilla video, he wasn't particularly aggressive towards the child and it seems to me an effort could have been made to try to coax the child back from the gorilla, but with the Tiger incident fresh in their minds, they figured better safe than sorry.

 

I see that smoking weed is now legal in your state too.

 

Have you seen the part where he drags the kid by his foot, over the concrete-bottomed waterway (for about 40 feet), faster than almost any human could have done the same thing!?

 

Yes.........

 

20 minutes....that's a terrible tranquilizer! Amateurs. I know a person who is very very experienced with tranquilizers, who gets the job done in less than half that time. Maybe they should contact him! I can't remember his name (but I do remember that he did a lot of the voices on Fat Albert.)

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You don't consider that "aggressive"?

 

Zoos should be abolished.

 

So one idiot parent has hastened the extinction of an endangered more intelligent species.

 

Hey Hey Hey, they should have given him a call.

He seemed to treat the kid like he would have a baby gorilla, not as either food or threat.

 

Yes, let's open the gates on all zoos and see how long the animals survive.

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Republicans who are sympathetic to Harambe will likely say that it would have been best if he was armed.

 

Harambe is getting all sorts of sympathy on the internet, I've noticed. That tends to happen these days when white authorities with guns shoot an unarmed black male in his own neighborhood.

 

It doesn't take long for the racists to chime in.

 

You Republicans are all alike! The animals get free food-stamps, free government housing, and free medical - even better than Obamacare, (and probably free Obama cell-phones if they could talk) and you want to take that away from them!

 

That is a false choice. It is possible to build sanctuaries for endangered animals without having cotton candy covered brats screaming, pounding on (*)(*)(*)(*) or falling into the pens.

 

It is pointless if wild animals cannot be reintroduced into the wild. Let them go extinct.

 

That's sound advice. If only more people listened to you.

 

If you take your child to a zoo, make sure you can control it, otherwise don't take it. It is not rocket science.

 

Maybe a tazer would be the way to go in future?

 

Cincinnati Zoo still safe for visitors despite gorilla shooting, says director...

Boy's entry into zoo exhibit and gorilla's death investigated by police
31/05/2016 | Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a four-year-old boy entering a gorilla's exhibit at Cincinnati Zoo and the animal being shot dead to protect the child.

See also:

'We'd make the same decision,' zoo director says of gorilla shooting
Tue May 31, 2016 - Zookeepers shot and killed a rare gorilla on Saturday after a 3-year-old boy slipped into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, triggering outcry over how the situation was handled. If they had to do it again, they would respond the same way, the zoo's director said Monday.