Zoo’s Killing of Gorilla Holding a Boy Prompts Outrage

Killing the gorilla was the right call for sure. That being said, The gorilla could have easily killed the kid in the first few seconds. Silverbacks have been known to deliberately kill babies, especially those who are not under the protection of an adult male. However the kid didn't look like a gorilla which may have averted Harambe's instinct to kill and saved the kid's life until Harambe could be put down.

The whole incident is a sad situation and the parents bear the responsibility for the death of Harambe as well as any trauma their child has, they were negligent. Those protestors should be in front of their home.

Another thought: I'll bet the zoo wanted to make the gorillas' enclosure to be as "natural" as possible probably due to pressure from groups like PETA instead, of providing a large caged area which would have precluded anyone from accidently entering.

 

It' s more likely that the gorilla would try to defend the baby rather than killing him. It's just one more example of humans being dumber and more violent than the animals.

 

Not gonna happen. These are the parents:

Any protests involved would be Animal Rights activists and Environmentalists on one side, but on the other will be #BLM calling the protesters racist. Heck, you saw earlier in the thread the race-card players throwing down their gauntlet, and even if they were wrong, they still have to make a statement somehow. If that means using the race card against the Animal Rights and Environmentalists, then so be it and those two groups will fold. Remember - there are priorities and pecking orders amongst protesters here. I kind of hope there are protests; the resulting liberal clash will be a comedy gold mine!

 

So you know that how, where you a gorilla before?

 

Ya I think Harambe's 1st instinct was to protect but then, his instinct would urge him to kill or mis-handle a baby with no apparent parent. As I said, the fact that the kid was not a baby gorilla may have distracted Harambe.....Unfortunately even the videos show Harambe dragging the kid around as a gorilla would. Humans are not as resilient and Harambe apparently didn't know that. Very sad incident indeed. I blame the parents.

 

Charge the parents with child neglect.

 

If someone doesn't know how to keep a three-year-old out of a gorilla enclosure, they should consider a profession other than zookeeping.

The animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now said the zoo had been cited twice recently for problems with its enclosures and facilities. In the negligence complaint it filed with the Department of Agriculture against the zoo, it called for the maximum federal penalty of $10,000 per infraction per animal, it said in a statement.

“The failure of the Cincinnati Zoo to adequately construct this enclosure to protect both the public and the animal held prisoner there is a clear and fatal violation of the Animal Welfare Act,” the group said in its letter to the agriculture department. -New York Times

 

The curators belong in the zoo.

 

It's odd just how many perfect parents there are in the world. Never having committed a mistake and are so able to pass judgement.

 

It is funny. Who is driving?

 

Having CPS come by and inspect your home after something very untoward like this happens with your child shouldn't be every parent's nightmare unless the parents are doing something very wrong and/or are conservative fanatics who think CPS are legal kidnappers. It should be expected, as that is exactly what CPS is supposed to do. The public shouldn't have to 'call' for it; the parents should welcome it as it will exonerate them, IF they are good parents.

Call me a misanthrope but it was the kid who climbed into the enclosure so I would have let the kid take his chances. Gorillas are formidable creatures but they are not aggressive and unpredictable, like chimpanzees. They are generally rather timid creatures, except to other gorillas, and they are smart enough to know that humans are HUMANS. The old Rudyard Kipling line "... SEVEN TIMES NEVER KILL MAN" is a reality to them, probably more even than it is to us. I think the Zoo should have just waited, maybe tried to calm the animal and coax him into letting the kid go and he would have. If he didn't, hey, them's the breaks, the kid might have died from the fall just as well.

 

Who are you, Spock? Emotions are the only reasons we ever do anything in the final analysis, we come up with "logical' justifications later. (and Vulcans were actually very emotional, even excessively so, that's one reason they believed in logic, but even they realized that valuing logic was itself, an emotion.)

 

Again, he went through vegetation, a fence and a 12' drop into water. What more should they do? They are an AZA accredited zoo and comply with all reasonable and required safety standards. The zoo where I live has a short wall, then a big drop like that into the lion exhibit. A kid could fall in if he went over the little wall. A kid can fall onto the subway track from a platform (and do from time to time), does the transportation district need to make it impossible? No parents need to watch. Accidents happen it's true, but an accident usually still has someone at fault, they just accidentally were at fault and not maliciousness was intended.


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Accidents do happen, but that doesn't remove fault. If I rear end someone I obviously didn't mean to, but it's still my fault.


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Says everyone typing on a mobile device made of minerals mined from gorilla habitat. Gorillas are screwed without sufficient habitat. If people cared about wild gorillas half as much as this one the world world be a better place.


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I dunno, the way the gorilla was swinging the kid around left and right a few times, the kid did seem to be in some danger. Add in panicky tourists panicking the gorilla back, and who knows? I wouldn't be surprised if the parents sue the zoo for their kid getting whiplash. As much as mom was, to put it mildly, kinda negligent here, the zoo made the right call.

Speaking of which - I looked at Pollycy's link. Seems dear ol' dad was quite a catch. He'd had criminal filings which included burglary, firearms offences, drug trafficking, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and kidnap. Yep, just the sort of profile a pre-school admin looks for on every dating service.

 

Of course, there's never any personal responsibility is there? Again, how many barriers do they need before stupid humans stop going through? A year or two ago a drunk lady climbed over and through two fences at my local zoo and into an elephant yard. Luckily for her the elephant was inside and the electric portion of the fence turned off or she'd probably be dead. They have safety precautions in place but people ignore them.

What do you say about kids who fall onto the track from a subway platform? Not secure enough? Patrons need to take some responsibility for their behavior and actions, it cannot be all on the business... regardless of industry. They do everything possible but if the customer doesn't follow the rules or have any common sense what can you do?


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Why didn't they throw the parents in to distract the gorilla, its their kid, let them go get it.

This made me laugh, http://newsthump.com/2016/05/31/zoo-staff-take-no-chances-as-childs-mother-is-shot/

 

There are some kinds of people who should never be allowed out in public at all. They are a blight on society in general and a very real potential safety menace to us all. It would probably be better if they weren't even allowed to have children at all, but at the very LEAST they should be entirely responsible for what their children DO when they are let loose in public. In this instance, I don't blame the zoo one damned bit!

These "parents" should have to pay for the purchase and transport of a replacement silverback gorilla for the zoo, and also pay a hefty fine for negligence and recklessness resulting in the death of a very rare and valuable zoo asset. Either that, or, they should be made to go live in the gorilla habitat and take poor, old Harambe's place there. All in all, they'd probably fit right in....

Racism?! I've gotten to where I don't even care anymore. You are what you DO, and blathering-ass, negligent stupidity comes in all colors and from all ethnic backgrounds. But if the proverbial shoe fits, then wear the damned thing!

 

In reality I think the zoo's actions had to do more with our sue happy culture than anything else. If the Zoo hadn't done anything and the gorilla did maim or kill the kid, the zoo would face a lawsuit of epic proportions. Therefore, there is less backlash from killing a gorilla than if the kid was maimed or killed by the gorilla.

I don't fault the zoo, I fault the parents not watching their kid (a 3-year old at that).

 

The zoo is not at fault here. The parents, or whatever they are, are at fault and should have to pay for all damage and expenses involved in this stupid tragedy. I would like the suggestion that they should have to be put into the zoo to take the place of the gorilla that was killed except that would be an insult to the other zoo animals. Parents like those two (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)s should be locked up in their own zoo called a prison and not allowed to breed.

 

I agree. There is a '7 seconds' rule when it comes to little kids. That's all it takes (or less) for the child to be up, running and disappearing and these incidents aren't negligence on the parent's part.

There's a harness for little kids like there is for dogs.....it's the answer for parents who take their kids into masses of people, like a fair, zoo, etc. You have control of your child at all times, they can't disappear..

 

Ya, that's as hilarious as "but but but the gorilla was protecting the kid".
Everyone all of a sudden turns into a nature expert.

 

I hadn't heard that part about mom & kid arguing, the kid insisting he was going down there. How old is this kid? 4? There shouldn't have been any argument.....w/a 4 yr old, for God's sake!

"I said NO. Keep it up and we're going home!" then keep your promise. That's the only way kids at that age learn that they are not the boss.

 

The fence was only 3' tall there was only 4' of vegetation, and the 12' drop wasn't to stop people coming in, but to keep the gorillas from getting out. It was an accident, plain and simple.

Here's a diagram from the Cincinatti paper: