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[Boke1879]

I'm glad the kid is ok. That's all I really care about right now. I'm not going to pass judgement on anyone. That's for authorities to decide on the parents. They'll have to answer questions about what happened. I'm not going to say they are shit parents like so many in here claim they are.

Shit happens and shit can happen in the blink of an eye. Kids literally get kidnapped in the blink of an eye because a parent turned away for a few seconds.

Again I'm glad the child is ok. It's an unfortunate situation but it happened and the kid will be ok. I'm thankful for that.

 

[Devil]

Eh. I'm pretty sure all of us here have slipped away for a few moments and luckily it didn't end in a near death state, I'm not really for holding parents responsible basically by lottery. Because really, the heart of the matter is it the act of losing sight of the kid the problem or just merely that it ended badly? Is it the end result that matters or the actual act? If it is the act then all parents, ever, and in the future are fucking scumbags that should be in jail for letting their children go unsupervised, just some of them were lucky and others not so much in what the consequences were.

Which isn't to say I encourage letting your children out of sight in public but I'm not about to criminalize it

Stop using sane arguments, oneliner blame posts are cool right now, don't you know? And if you put up an argument you're outed as a bad parent yourself anyway.

 

[Messofanego]

Eh. I'm pretty sure all of us here have slipped away for a few moments and luckily it didn't end in a near death state, I'm not really for holding parents responsible basically by lottery. Because really, the heart of the matter is it the act of losing sight of the kid the problem or just merely that it ended badly? Is it the end result that matters or the actual act? If it is the act then all parents, ever, and in the future are fucking scumbags that should be in jail for letting their children go unsupervised, just some of them were lucky and others not so much in what the consequences were.

Which isn't to say I encourage letting your children out of sight in public but I'm not about to criminalize it

There are some useless strawmans here like believing that people want to criminalise parents losing sight of their children as a general thing, but people defending the parents in this specific case based on this common mistake on the part of parents is what is bothering. Yes, the end matters.

If someone loses sight of their children in a safe space like their own home where they know every nook and cranny, people aren't going to criticise them. But if someone is going to defend that same behaviour in dangerous situations like on the streets or in a dangerous part of a zoo, it comes off as excusing negligence.

 

[Lister]

There are some useless strawmans here like believing that people want to criminalise parents losing sight of their children as a general thing, but people defending the parents in this specific case based on this common mistake on the part of parents is what is bothering. Yes, the end matters.

If someone loses sight of their children in a safe space like their own home where they know every nook and cranny, people aren't going to criticise them. But if someone is going to defend that same behaviour in dangerous situations like on the streets or in a dangerous part of a zoo, it comes off as excusing negligence.

Dangerous part of a zoo? Do you hear yourself? There's plenty of blame for the parents but there's also plenty for the zoo. There should be no fucking way that a 4 year old could get into a good damn gorilla enclosure.

 

[mAcOdIn]

There are some useless strawmans here like believing that people want to criminalise parents losing sight of their children as a general thing, but people defending the parents in this specific case based on this common mistake on the part of parents is what is bothering. Yes, the end matters.

If someone loses sight of their children in a safe space like their own home where they know every nook and cranny, people aren't going to criticise them. But if someone is going to defend that same behaviour in dangerous situations like on the streets or in a dangerous part of a zoo, it comes off as excusing negligence.

Well the guy, or girl, I quoted said maybe the parent's thought it should be "excused," and really, who can excuse it outside the law? So that's how I took it.

Although, I don't really know how we quantify safe here, lots of kids die at their homes when unsupervised, probably more than have died in zoos unsupervised.

I'd say the end doesn't matter. We're mortal, some of us will get hurt and some of us will die early, needlessly. It's going to happen. As a species we should try and mitigate that, yes, but we do need to accept that it's still going to happen. Therefore negligence shouldn't really be about "this totally normal thing happened and a terrible thing happened as a result" but more "why the fuck would you do something so stupid" type thing. And the way we curiously come up with what's acceptable and not acceptable is rather insane and inconsistent, going to the zoo's probably still safer than a ton of other acts that are perfectly fine. And I fail to see how taking children into more dangerous situations than a zoo but them being supervised somehow makes it inherently better.

 

[Sami+]

Fuck that kid. What a piece of shit family.

He's fucking four years old Jesus what's your problem

 

[Trojita]

Release the full video.

And SMH witnesses heard the kid teling his mom he wanted and was going to jump down into the water.

 

[DietRob]

Sad situation. I live here so I've seen Harambe several times. The video doesn't look that threatening but I guess the news did cut out a lot of footage. The Cincinnati Zoo is an amazing Zoo. I hope they are able to figure out a better solution to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

 

[Slackbladder]

There are some useless strawmans here like believing that people want to criminalise parents losing sight of their children as a general thing, but people defending the parents in this specific case based on this common mistake on the part of parents is what is bothering. Yes, the end matters.

If someone loses sight of their children in a safe space like their own home where they know every nook and cranny, people aren't going to criticise them. But if someone is going to defend that same behaviour in dangerous situations like on the streets or in a dangerous part of a zoo, it comes off as excusing negligence.

Do you have kids? Would/do you keep them on a leash? When you were young did you ever get lost? Yeah, I don't think you understand how the real world works. Accidents happen. A neighbour I had years ago lost her 5 year old when he walked out of the house and into the road and was run over. It happened in seconds. It was a tragedy, as was this. Why be so goddamn judgmental?
And as has been said, no barrier or fence should be defeated by a 4 year old

 

[kswiston]

Although, I don't really know how we quantify safe here, lots of kids die at their homes when unsupervised, probably more than have died in zoos unsupervised.

I don't think you have to put probably in there. People dying in zoos due to animal related causes are international news because it's so rare. When's the last time you heard about a 4 year old in Australia or Germany dying from drowning in their swimming pool? Probably never unless you live in those countries or the kid who drowned was the son/daughter of a celebrity.

About 750 kids (0-14) a year drown in the US, mostly in swimming pools. That's basically 2 a day ignoring the fact that most of those drownings would happen in the summer.

 

[Calm waterfall]

The only ones i blame are the parents in this situations.

 

[akira28]

He's fucking four years old Jesus what's your problem

Well, when I was four I knew not to try to feed my self to the animals. My mother told me not to do it and I didn't.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

The only ones i blame are the parents in this situations.

the only ones?

 

[Dougieflesh]

Trash parenting at it's finest. Kid gave the mother warning that he was gonna do something a little kid would do and the mother was irresponsible. You know how kids don't get lost? Hold their hands when walking through a chaotic environment. I'd put the blame at 98% the trash parenting and 2% the zoo.

 

[aliengmr]

If your kid does not listen to you about not jumping in a dangerous animal exhibit their is a lack of respect for the child towards the parent and they probably should not be in a zoo to begin with.

All kids are different. Some are very well behaved, some are timid and fearful from straying too far, and some just have no concept of the word "no". Most kids are all of these at one point or another. Parenting is basically reacting and adapting to all of these. Having multiple kids compounds the issue because even siblings could be very different.

There is no single method to parenting. You do what you can to avoid making a tragic mistake and hope you come out of it sane. It's all down to luck.

I've no doubt that this mother has paid for her mistake. She'll probably never even go to a zoo again, I know I wouldn't. I certainly wouldn't go to a zoo if my 4 year old could get into the enclosure all by himself.

But this nonsense about the kid lacking respect for the parent saying "no", is just that, fucking nonsense. Either you won the child lottery, have no kids, or think babysitting has made you an expert, but that's not how kids work.

 

[TheSlySoul]

Fuck the parents. What a piece of shit family.

Fixed, kids are stupid. How did the parents be that distracted?

It makes a difference when your child circumvents very clear barriers to wander into a gorilla enclosure.

Sorry, man. It's okay for you to be wrong on the Internet.

Pretty much.
Mother did nothing to discourage child's behavior and in any crowded area you need to have your eyes on your child, plus Loosing them in a mall =/= loosing them in a zoo.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Yeah, watching the video, it does seem like the Gorilla was helping the boy. And got agitated I guess when the screaming began. I bet they could have got a trained professional in there to retrieve the boy and not kill the Gorilla. Bystanders weren't helping.

 

[TheSlySoul]

Yeah, watching the video, it does seem like the Gorilla was helping the boy. And got agitated I guess when the screaming began. I bet they could have got a trained professional in there to retrieve the boy and not kill the Gorilla. Bystanders weren't helping.

Watching it on CNN it seems the dragging is just how the gorilla moves its young. Think it was not gonna hurt him. Damn shame though!

 

[mAcOdIn]

... plus Loosing them in a mall =/= loosing them in a zoo.

It is the same, you might not get beaten by a gorilla at a mall but how many kids are snatched from malls?

We are basically excusing and condemning the same act based on convenience. A zoo is generally not a dangerous place and this one kid unfortunately broke that streak for that zoo but given enough time a child will be snatched from every mall, a child will die in every pool, a child will die in every home and a child will be killed on every road until there is no place not touched by a kid dying by doing something stupid.

I don't even think the zoo is at fault here. The parents may or may not, I don't know in all honesty, I don't know how fast the kid acted or what the parents were dealing with but I don't think every tragic act necessitates blame. I guess if it does blame God.

 

[WickedLaharl]

Yeah, watching the video, it does seem like the Gorilla was helping the boy. And got agitated I guess when the screaming began. I bet they could have got a trained professional in there to retrieve the boy and not kill the Gorilla. Bystanders weren't helping.

the zoo should have had a trained sniper on site to shoot the kid out of the gorillas hand.

 

[shoplifter]

Opened topic: "yep, here's victim blaming GAF again"

 

[MrCunningham]

Yeah, watching the video, it does seem like the Gorilla was helping the boy. And got agitated I guess when the screaming began. I bet they could have got a trained professional in there to retrieve the boy and not kill the Gorilla. Bystanders weren't helping.

Yeah, that is the impression that I got too. The Gorilla looked like it wasn't trying to be aggressive or attack that child. Though I guess the park security (officials?) didn't want to take any chances just in case things escalated and the onlookers triggered the Gorilla. Though it makes me wonder why they just didn't tranq the Gorilla instead of kill it?

The boy looks like he came out of this unscathed. Maybe this will be an interesting experience for him that will have a profound affect on his life later on?

 

[JHoNNy1OoO]

Was staying away from watching the video but of course CNN played it. What an absolutely horrible tragic event. Zoo is going to get sued of course even though it is 100% the parents responsibility to keep track of their child. I'm sure there were people saying not to shoot the Gorilla but the last thing a zoo needs is to take a chance and have the Gorilla kill the child.

Stories like this just make me ill.

 

[Stahsky]

Opened topic: "yep, here's victim blaming GAF again"

which one is the victim?

 

[shoplifter]

Yeah, that is the impression that I got too. The Gorilla looked like it wasn't trying to be aggressive or attack that child. Though I guess the park security (officials?) didn't want to take any chances just in case things escalated and the onlookers trigger the Gorilla. Though it makes me wonder why they just didn't tranq the Gorilla instead of kill it?

The boy looks like he came out of this unscathed. Maybe this will be an interesting experience for him that will have a profound affect on his life later on?

They didn't tranq the gorilla because it takes time and in that time there was a good chance that it would become agitated and kill the kid.

 

[Boke1879]

The rest of the video is out there is people want to find it. The Gorilla was dragging the kid through the water and rapid pace. It may not have been intentional for the Gorilla to hurt the child but it definitely could have handling the small child like that.

In that situation you gotta make a choice. It's unfortunate any of this happened, but I'm glad the child is ok and frankly that's all I care about right now.

 

[MrCunningham]

They didn't tranq the gorilla because it takes time and in that time there was a good chance that it would become agitated and kill the kid.

Yeah... I guess it would have been too much of a risk, especially when there is a child's life at stake as well as a potential family lawsuit (and negative press) that could have happened if the kid was killed in their park.

 

[MC Safety]

Opened topic: "yep, here's victim blaming GAF again"

No one is blaming the gorilla.

 

[Kinyou]

Yeah, that is the impression that I got too. The Gorilla looked like it wasn't trying to be aggressive or attack that child. Though I guess the park security (officials?) didn't want to take any chances just in case things escalated and the onlookers trigger the Gorilla. Though it makes me wonder why they just didn't tranq the Gorilla instead of kill it?

The boy looks like he came out of this unscathed. Maybe this will be an interesting experience for him that will have a profound affect on his life later on?

Tranqulizing would take too long. Getting hit by the dart is also a bit of a shock moment for the animal which might have increased the chances that the Gorilla attacks the kid.

 

[Clipjoint]

Looks like the edited parts can be seen here:

https://twitter.com/Amber_Soler/status/736785301079629825

https://twitter.com/Amber_Soler/status/736785301079629825

https://twitter.com/Amber_Soler/status/736801913094574080

Still doesn't look like aggressive behavior on the part of the gorilla. Most likely it was trying to protect the child from all the screaming humans. Really sad he had to be put down.

 

[rokkerkory]

I wished there was protocol to stun / put animals in sleep mode rather than kill for this.

 

[Jmanunknown]

But this nonsense about the kid lacking respect for the parent saying "no", is just that, fucking nonsense. Either you won the child lottery, have no kids, or think babysitting has made you an expert, but that's not how kids work.

Screw this bs your making it personal by attacking me. What is wrong with you? You look at situation where a 4 year old child told the parent they are gonna jump into an exhibit the parent told the child no do not do it. Don't you reasonable expect your child not to jump into an enclosure with a silver back gorilla? This is a lack of respect of the authority of the parent in this situation. How is this not obvious to you? On top of that the parent lost site of the child who does not listen to the parent in dangerous situations? Also the way your children behave in dangerous situations is not a lottery especially when you tell them not to do something in that dangerous situation. Do you have kids? If so if you told your child not to jump into a raging bonfire don't you reasonably expect your child not to do it especially if you tell them no?

 

[CornBurrito]

Losing track of your child once for a few moments makes you a bad parent?

Another glorious thread full of people misremembering what they were like at 4 years old.

Young 16-20 something year dudes without children are literally the best parents.

 

[Red Hood]

A story like this could lead to the Rise of the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Rise of the Dawn of the War of the Planet of the Apes.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Losing track of your child once for a few moments makes you a bad parent?

Another glorious thread full of people misremembering what they were like at 4 years old.

In a zoo, where the enclosures aren't properly secure and the possibility of something going seriously wrong is high?

Yes, that's bad parenting. Or rather, neglectful parenting.

 

[Apathy]

Why couldn't they tranquilize it instead of killing it?

Because tranquilizers don't work like they do in movies or mgs. They take time to stop whatever you shoot. In the case of the gorilla you might piss it off and it could do something to the idiot child.

 

[mAcOdIn]

In a zoo, where the enclosures aren't properly secure and the possibility of something going seriously wrong is high?

Yes, that's bad parenting. Or rather, neglectful parenting.

Or in a car where something can go wrong, or school, or a bus, or on a train, or in a storm, or outside. Tell me where something can't go wrong.

And I really wouldn't say the chance of something happening at the zoo is high, that's ridiculous, when, please tell me, did zoos get this dangerous reputation that all of a sudden everyone should have known that it was this dangerous fucking place? I'd be willing to bet that zoos are still safer than fairs, would you give a pass to a parent faithfully watching his kid die from a ride malfunction because at least he was supervising the kid or is that too dangerous a situation to put a child in? Or are they just merely tragic accidents?

 

[LowEndTorque]

To humans sure.

Edit: not trying to be a dick lol, I actually agree with you it's just blanket statements like that always come off a little odd to me, I'm of the opinion that no life is more "valuable" than anothers but thats just my opinion.

I would have taken the same action against this gorilla, just makes me sad either way.

Do you ever eat steak? burgers? chicken? fish?

Because if so, then a human's appetite is more valuable than an animal's life.

 

[Fat_Caddis]

Also the way your children behave in dangerous situations is not a lottery especially when you tell them not to do something in that dangerous situation. Do you have kids?

The fact that he/she describes how children behave as a "child lottery" says a lot about their views regarding parenting. Of course nature plays a big part in childhood development, but so does the nurture aspect. But I guess that view makes it a lot easy to absolve yourself of responsibility when your child misbehaves.

Mommy loves you!!!

 

[.JayZii]

"Mommy loves you! We're going to get a huge settlement out of this!"

 

[RPGCrazied]

"huge settlement out of this!"

With a fence like that, I'm sure anyone could. But I think the parent at the zoo should be the one sued, that's just me though.

 

[SnowFlakeCake]

That is fucking awful, there are no two ways about it. Why in the world would they shoot a lovely animal because some shitty parents couldn't keep an eye on their sprog? At the worst, a tranquilizer should have been used for the gorilla and nothing more. apparently they said it would have taken too long to work but I'd have taken that risk, the worst case scenario wouldn't have been as bad as the Gorilla dying. Parents should be sued, also rendered infertile so they don't reproduce again.

Reading the BBC article about some fucking bastard going into a lions cage to commit suicide and the lions getting killed is even more fucked up and that's saying something. I'm sure people will try to justify that as well, when there's no justification at all. Very sad.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

If I'm ever a parent I'm showing my kids nature documentaries where animals are fighting and eating the shit out of each other. No Disney movies where animals are all friendly singing songs and shit. I bet they won't try to jump into gorilla enclosures after that.

 

[Apathy]

Screw this bs your making it personal by attacking me. What is wrong with you? You look at situation where a 4 year old child told the parent they are gonna jump into an exhibit the parent told the child no do not do it. Don't you reasonable expect your child not to jump into an enclosure with a silver back gorilla? This is a lack of respect of the authority of the parent in this situation. How is this not obvious to you? On top of that the parent lost site of the child who does not listen to the parent in dangerous situations? Also the way your children behave in dangerous situations is not a lottery especially when you tell them not to do something in that dangerous situation. Do you have kids? If so if you told your child not to jump into a raging bonfire don't you reasonably expect your child not to do it especially if you tell them no?

Man my parents won the child lottery, they told me to not go over the railings when we went to the grand canyon cause I could fall to my death, and I listened to them. Gonna have to call them up and tell them how lucky they are I could follow instructions on how not die and how unique that was. Shit I just realized, they wont the child lottery twice, cause I didn't climb over the railings when we went to Niagra Falls either. Lucky them

 

[Absoludacrous]

If your kid does not listen to you about not jumping in a dangerous animal exhibit their is a lack of respect for the child towards the parent and they probably should not be in a zoo to begin with.



It is the result of bad parenting when your child does not listen to you about not jumping into a dangerous animal exhibit at a zoo and that the parent took their eyes off their kid and the kid did what he said he was gonna do. Yes the zoo should have measures in place against stuff like this because stuff happens sometimes and you should protect people from negligance and bad behavior but after 38 years and millions upon million of adults and little kids coming through without incident and one day a child who literally told his mother he was gonna jump into the enclosure she tells him no he obviously does not listen she takes his eyes off of him the kid jumps into the animal enclosure and now we are here with you telling me its not bad parenting.

The kid is 4. That's not "lack of respect towards the parent". That's the kid being 4. Do you have a kid?

And maybe this was a terrible parent. Or maybe this is the one time the kid escaped her watch and it just so happened to end in the worst possible way. I'm assuming you clearly know the answer to this, otherwise you wouldn't be jumping to such a conclusion.

Man my parents won the child lottery, they told me to not go over the railings when we went to the grand canyon cause I could fall to my death, and I listened to them. Gonna have to call them up and tell them how lucky they are I could follow instructions on how not die and how unique that was. Shit I just realized, they wont the child lottery twice, cause I didn't climb over the railings when we went to Niagra Falls either. Lucky them

Or, possibly, instances of this are so rare, that when they do happen maybe we chalk it up to unfortunate accidents and not instantly call for the head of the parents because you and a ton of other people managed to make it out of the Grand Canyon ok.

 

[Kurtofan]

That is fucking awful, there are no two ways about it. Why in the world would they shoot a lovely animal because some shitty parents couldn't keep an eye on their sprog? At the worst, a tranquilizer should have been used for the gorilla and nothing more. apparently they said it would have taken too long to work but I'd have taken that risk, the worst case scenario wouldn't have been as bad as the Gorilla dying. Parents should be sued, also rendered infertile so they don't reproduce again.

Reading the BBC article about some fucking bastard going into a lions cage to commit suicide and the lions getting killed is even more fucked up and that's saying something. I'm sure people will try to justify that as well, when there's no justification at all. Very sad.

The worst case scenario is the kid dying.

 

[antonz]

Basement Gaf pretending they have a fucking clue about parenting is hilarious. All it takes is little Suzy saying mommy look and the mom turning her head for little junior to go between 2 little wires that make up the so called barrier.

 

[Fat_Caddis]

That is fucking awful, there are no two ways about it. Why in the world would they shoot a lovely animal because some shitty parents couldn't keep an eye on their sprog? At the worst, a tranquilizer should have been used for the gorilla and nothing more. apparently they said it would have taken too long to work but I'd have taken that risk, the worst case scenario wouldn't have been as bad as the Gorilla dying. Parents should be sued, also rendered infertile so they don't reproduce again.

Reading the BBC article about some fucking bastard going into a lions cage to commit suicide and the lions getting killed is even more fucked up and that's saying something. I'm sure people will try to justify that as well, when there's no justification at all. Very sad.

Woah now, the zoo made the right decision. A child's death is much, much worse than a gorilla being killed. If it was one of the last gorillas on earth, then I would probably go for the tranquilizer. But you are definitely going overboard here. I was trying to think of ways the zoo could counter-sue the family into paying the replacement costs of raising a new gorilla, but I don't see that happening.

All that can be done now is to shame the shit out of the mother so society is on notice that if you have a particularly shitty kid, and they tell you that they are going to jump into a gorilla exhibit, you probably should keep an eye on them. Definitely a tragedy though.

 

[Fat_Caddis]

Young 16-20 something year dudes without children are literally the best parents.

Did you guys miss the part about the child telling the mother that he was going to jump into the gorilla pen before doing so? Because ignoring your child after that isn't even negligence, it's straight up recklessness.

 

[3N16MA]

The parents are idiots who caused their child to get hurt and an innocent gorilla is now dead. You never lose sight of your child in a crowded place like that. They are priority #1.