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Gorilla killed after dragging child at Cincinnati Zoo

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Drencrom

Member
unfuckingbelievable

HAYd27b.png


So the kid went under this metal railing with "securtiy ropes", through the bushes and fell into the fake river.

Jesus chirst, how was this allowed in the first place?
 

Maximilian E.

AKA MS-Evangelist
Im also on the "fuck the parents" side..
Sorry but going into a zoo, the parents have to step it up a notch with the observation of the child. In that environment, you should NOT take your eyes from your child..

Unfortunately, this is what I am seeing so much nowadays, parents focusing on their mobile phones and just letting their child run along.. no matter in what situation.

Yeah, so fuck the parents
 
That's definitely a poorly-designed enclosure. The Toledo Zoo has gorillas behind plexiglass, and it doesn't effect the quality of the exhibit at all.
 
This is unfortunate but a human life is worth more than an animal's. They did what they had to do.

Doesn't that depend? In the eyes of the law, sure. Let's be honest here though, if this was a gorilla I had brought up, then my emotional attatchment would likely be more than than with a child I didn't know. Added to that, this is in the context of a zoo. Humans have massacred wild populations of these things. This is in the context of the zoo, the animals are a paramount in a zoo. This kind of situation absolutely should not happen. Both the family and the zoo should be fined...heavily. I am sad for the families loss for sure, but it was for people to avoid, not the animal. Personally, I think this situation was sad whatever the outcome. One lives one dies, it is a fuck up either way.
 

Ayumi

Member
As a parent of a 3 year old who loves to run off, it happens more than you would think (I lost him at a motorway service station a few weeks ago for several minutes). I think the blame has to be on the zoo for not having a sealed off enclosure.

Screw anyone who blames the parents, or even the kid.
 

Mendrox

Member
Watched the video. The gorilla looks to be protecting the child :-/ It cuts off before any shooting happens, but there was no rough handling of the child at all, it honestly lookedl ike the gorilla was trying to help. Towards the end people start shout that the gorilla is drowning the kid, but at that point everything is out of view and you can't see what's going on.

It's possible it got more aggressive after the video cuts off though, sad for all parties involved though

Yeah watched the video too and it seemed like... he wanted to even help at first? He protected the kid. Didn't help that everyone screams, but I don't it meant harm and even realized what was happening? Wouldn't surprise me. Even more sad that they had to shoot him because it was too dangerous. :(
 

strafer

member
wasn't there a case with a girl falling down a gorilla enclosure and the gorilla was protecting the child until help arrived...or did I dream this.
 

KHlover

Banned
Bad situation all around, but I won't blame the parent. Parents are still just humans after all and if you have two kids to watch over, one tug on the shoulder from kid no. 2 would be enough to lose track of kid no. 1 for a second or two. Which is all the time kid no. 1 needs since this "enclosure" consists solely of hopes and dreams. Chest high fence or plexiglass and we wouldn't have this thread right now.
 

M3d10n

Member
Many zoos are old and have their enclosures designed mostly to keep animals from escaping and not much to keep humans from going in.
 

Violater

Member
This is so sad.
That cage should have additional security features, and you cn bet they will be installed now.
Additionally are tranquilizers really not an option in these cases?
 

Lum1n3s

Member
Yup. Fuck zoos indeed.
This right here, but at the same time how would you go about closing them? Aren't most animals at zoo's animals that couldn't survive in the wild and were rescued somehow? How would one go about closing Zoo's with animals who aren't capable of surviving outside of that environment?
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
I wouldn't blame the parents. My mother was an absolutely fantastic parent who did a great job with me, and she still tells me about the time when I was 4 and we were at a crowded fair and she lost track of me - four year olds are surprisingly fast and small and if its a busy day, you can't always keep track. Even if you manage 99% of the time, if you take your kid on 100 trips to busy places in two years, you'd expect one mishap. That's just how it works, and I feel like the people in this thread who don't understand that probably have no parenting experience.

The most at blame here is the zoo itself. That 'security' fence is a disgrace, I'm actually surprised this didn't happen earlier.
 

neoism

Member
fuck zoos

i swear how the fuck can a 4 year old get in a gorilla enclosure.... smfh.

there should be no way to get in period other than trained employees...😤
 

RSP

Member
Stories like this make me nervous for taking my kid to the Zoo.

He wants to see the crocodiles. I'm instantly imagining situations like this. Ugh.

I also need to say that I get nervous when they play outside anywhere else than the backyard.
 

neoism

Member
unfuckingbelievable

HAYd27b.png


So the kid went under this metal railing with "securtiy ropes", through the bushes and fell into the fake river.

yeah ive never been to a zoo but seriously
giphy.gif

what the fuck is this...
i know gorillas can be chill mostly but ...��
 

Omni

Member
Negligence on the parent's part. Sorry, but your child fell into a cage with a gorilla. You're at a zoo with animals that could snap a person in half. Pay attention. As for the zoo itself, those railings are pathetic. I don't believe the parents of the child deserve to sue, but something needs to happen there.

Poor gorilla. No reason that he had to die because of human negligence. I saw what footage and he really wasn't acting aggressive in the slightest. Suppose it could have happened after it was cut off, but eh.
 

StayDead

Member
Read the article linked in the op. The news broadcaster edited out the disturbing portions of the video where the gorilla violently dragged the child.

The thing is though, the gorilla was likely dragging the child thinking it had the strength of a baby gorila. Could they not have put the gorilla to sleep with a dart rather than killing the thing? It's very sad all around, because with proper precautions by the zoo and the parents none of this would've happened. :(
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
The thing is though, the gorilla was likely dragging the child thinking it had the strength of a baby gorila. Could they not have put the gorilla to sleep with a dart rather than killing the thing? It's very sad all around, because with proper precautions by the zoo and the parents none of this would've happened. :(

Tranquilizers are very difficult to do right. Even if judged perfectly, they take about 10-15 seconds to take effect, and understandably animals can become pretty agitated in that time. Even judged wrong, they can either kill the animal or have no real effect other than agitation, both of which are bad. You can use tranquilizers if your staff respond essentially immediately and it is unlikely that the animal in question can reach the person in time, but given this gorilla already had the child, that wasn't really an option.
 
I remember this happened in the UK and a female gorilla protected the little boy from the male. She was cradling him and everything.

This is just so sad and avoidable. The zoo are fucking idiots for having this kind of set up and the parent is a moron for not watching their kid. I know it's easy to look away for 10 seconds, but if there was ever a place you would be watching your child like hawk then this is it.
 
Negligence on the parent's part. Sorry, but your child fell into a cage with a gorilla. You're at a zoo with animals that could snap a person in half. Pay attention. As for the zoo itself, those railings are pathetic. I don't believe the parents of the child deserve to sue, but something needs to happen there.

Poor gorilla. No reason that he had to die because of human negligence. I saw what footage and he really wasn't acting aggressive in the slightest. Suppose it could have happened after it was cut off, but eh.
Nah, nevermind.
 
I guess it's hard to say how the kids was handled from the video. There is nothing at all in the way of harm that I saw but I'm on my old. After the first part of didn't even see either of them again

In thought it must have been bad from people saying they stopped it but there was nothing at all.

So I guess the boy wanted to go see him?


Maybe they need a nice solid glass wall somewhere between the fence and edge of the enclosure?

Obviously you don't usually expect someone to try and climb on but you have to be ready for that.
 

LoveCake

Member
As soon as I heard this today I immediately thought of an incident that happened here in the UK (On searching it was on the Island of Jersey) it was a huge story at the time.

In 1986 five year old Levan Merritt fell into the gorilla enclosure and lost consciousness. Jambo stood guard over the boy when he was unconscious, placing himself between the boy and other gorillas in what ethologists analyse as a protective gesture. He later stroked the unconscious boy. When the boy regained consciousness and started to cry, Jambo and the other gorillas retreated, and an ambulance-men and two keepers rescued the boy.

Video of what happened

In 1996 there was the incident at Brookfield Zoo, A three-year-old boy climbed the wall around the gorilla exhibit and fell 18 feet into the gorilla enclosure below, suffering a broken hand and a large gash on the side of his face. Binti walked towards the unconscious boy while helpless spectators screamed, certain that the gorillas would harm him. Instead, Binti protected the child. Binti gently cradled the child and laid him down when she heard her shift door open to her downstairs enclosure.

Video of what happened

Gorilla's are not dumb animals of course each is different and some will of course be more aggressive than others, but they must have known the temperament of this gorilla and from the video it doesn't look like the gorilla is attacking the child, the opposite in fact, furthermore what was wrong with a tranquillizer dart?
 

quickwhips

Member
Glad the kiddos ok as at three it isn't his fault. But if his parents or guardian were watching better the gorilla would still be alive.
 
I would assume they could have gotten a tranquilizer but maybe time only gave them a gun? No idea there but with the way police shoot dogs maybe they just shoot everything now.


To be fair slate I don't think most would say the mother should care for the gorilla bit the zoo should have had a way to keep both of them safe in such a situation.
 
Zoos really shouldn't exist in 2016. But more to the actual point, how the fuck was that fencing an acceptable design? That's fucking nuts.
 
Zoos really shouldn't exist in 2016. But more to the actual point, how the fuck was that fencing an acceptable design? That's fucking nuts.

I don't like zoos either, but we live in a world where people still believe in dumb ass medicines that mean animals are killed daily for things like horns. The world is a shitty place and we will sadly get to the point where the only animals from a species left alive are not in the wild but in captivity in a zoo. Zoos are shit, but they are a product of an even shittier reality.
 

Fbh

Member
Man that's sad.
Hopefully this forces the Zoo to put up better security measures.
The parents are idiots too for sure, but there should be enough security around dangerous animals that even an unsupervised 4 years old kid can't get into the cage with them


Doesn't that depend? In the eyes of the law, sure. Let's be honest here though, if this was a gorilla I had brought up, then my emotional attatchment would likely be more than than with a child I didn't know. Added to that, this is in the context of a zoo. Humans have massacred wild populations of these things. This is in the context of the zoo, the animals are a paramount in a zoo. This kind of situation absolutely should not happen. Both the family and the zoo should be fined...heavily. I am sad for the families loss for sure, but it was for people to avoid, not the animal. Personally, I think this situation was sad whatever the outcome. One lives one dies, it is a fuck up either way.

Yeah, I bet if this happened to you or your family/friends and they let the gorilla kill the kid you'd be totally fine with the Zoo and authorities telling you "Well sir, we have massacred wild populations of gorillas so bad luck I guess". Even more so here when the person in question is 4 years old and obviously has no idea of what he has doing
 

ActWan

Member
This right here, but at the same time how would you go about closing them? Aren't most animals at zoo's animals that couldn't survive in the wild and were rescued somehow? How would one go about closing Zoo's with animals who aren't capable of surviving outside of that environment?

The thing with the visitors and that it's like an exhibition is what's especially bothering me....if enough people will support "zoos without visitors" financially, it'll be fine. Anyway a safari is better than a zoo so that's a more realistic option
 

Monocle

Member
A stupid preventable incident caused by human negligence. Too bad they couldn't have tranquilized the gorilla rather than kill it. Shame there isn't a fast-acting paralytic for this kind of incident.
 
Zoos shouldn't have existed beyond the Victorian era. We don't have freakshows anymore, we shouldn't have enclosures where people come to stare at "exotic" animals in captivity either.
 
Those railings are a complete joke, you can do open air exhibits in zoos while still taking proper precautions to make sure both humans and animals remain unharmed.
 
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