It’s always the animal that gets killed when people are stupid.
Would you have preferred the alternative? If so, why not come out and say it.
It’s an unfortunate situation for everyone involved, but sadly, fatal for the gorilla.
Honestly and at the risk of being pilloried, I do not like the outcome. The parents instead of thankng the Zoo officials who saved their child’s life, thanked God for saving him. Where were they in all this which allowed their child to fall into the den? I hate Zoos.
I do think that ultimately the zoo made the right call, but I agree with this too. Parents need to watch their children. As a teacher, I’ve planned and gone on multiple field trips, and also skipped trips where I thought that we wouldn’t have adequate supervision for all contingencies. Yes, kids run off in the blink of an eye, but for this kid to not be noticed long enough for him to get through several obstacles and into the enclosure is pretty bad IMHO. It’s not like he just ducked under one railing. Sad outcome for all involved.
Seeing the videos I’m not convinced the gorilla was trying to harm the child. They should’ve tried tranquilizing him first.
You don’t like the outcome? Would you have preferred a dead child? If so, just come out and say it.
Agreed. Parents need to watch their children. Do you know that didn’t happen in this case? No. Do you know what happened? No. So let’s be a little more charitable.
Do you have kids? The prospect of one’s child coming to mortal harm is the worst nightmare of any parent. If I went through it, I very much doubt that I would manage a reaction that would rise to your expectations.
It’s clear from various stories written about this incident and videos that I’ve seen that this child wasn’t being watched for long enough to get over the railing, through some hedges, and over a wall into the enclosure. I already said I think the zoo made the right call, and I’m glad the kid is okay. I’m very aware that wrangling several small children, as accounts say that this mom was, is difficult, and I also already said that accidents happen. I don’t think it’s uncharitable to say that the mom bears some responsibility as well.
You say that as if there were only two possible outcomes.
Not speaking for paulw, but I would prefer the alternative…of leaving wild animals in the wild.
Whoa, slow down there, podner. I agree with @squirreltown that regretting the gorilla’s death is not an implicit demand that the child have died. The animal didn’t create the situation and it’s a shame he had to die because of it. Without speaking for anyone else, I’m pretty sure they agree with me that you can think that without wanting the kid to have died either. I’m not going to “come out and say it” because that’s not what I think.
The gorilla was the wild animal? Seems to me the humans were the ones not taking care of their young. Don’t gorillas grieve for their dead? I bet the two females won’t trust a human ever again. Might as well put them down, too?
Shouldn’t there at least be a memorial for the murdered so it can be acknowledged that the gorilla didn’t attack anyone? Some great stewards of the Earth we have turn out to be.
Put a barbed wire, electrified fence around all the exhibits from now on. Not that a walk by shooting by some Stand Your Ground Zimmerman-type wouldn’t happen. I can see it now, the TeaParty will be patrolling the zoo looking for animal agitators.
Glad the kid is OK. Angry that we act like this makes up for the death of an innocent bystander.
I don’t like the outcome because an endangered animal is dead because this child’s parent was irresponsible and was taking care of other children at the time, and according to most recent information, the child kept saying he wanted to go into the water. I also hate Zoos. I am sure the Zoo keepers took actions they saw fit and that a tranquilizer would have taken too long to subdue the animal, but I am not convinced the animal would have hurt the child either. I will be even more controversial by saying that I happen to like animals a lot more than I like a lot of humans. You don;t have to like what I have to say or agree,but I have just as much right to express my views as you do,.
You are entitled to your opinion and feelings as I am to mine.
I am glad the little boy is alright – but killing the gorilla disgusts me. Obviously there was a design flaw in the enclosure that ever allowed for any opportunity to fall into it. If zoos insist upon imprisoning primates – at the very least, the gorilla compound in Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoe has a viewing area for people that is completely behind glass. I generally find zoos very depressing places and haven’t been back to one since my daughter was about 5 years old.
You can’t take that chance, legally or frankly morally.
No, once the child had been taken in by the gorilla, there was only one possible outcome.
Until Jane Goodall weighs in on the need to shoot the animal as opposed to tranquilize it, I’m agnostic. But my heart says it should have been tranquilized. My head…who knows. They took 10 minutes for zoo officials to get to the child before they decided to shoot the gorilla, but argued a tranquilizer would have taken an additional 10 minutes to take effect. In the meantime, the child was not being hurt during those first 10 minutes with the primate.
These primates are critically endangered in the wild, which is one level below extinct. They share 95-99% of our DNA, closer than any other primate I think. They are being wiped out by Ebola in the wild too. It’s just so tragic.
Anyway, I want a second opinion on if they really had to go that far and kill him… and not one that comes from Jack Hanna, who I heard in an interview today was OK with what the Ohio zoo did to put the primate down. Jack Hanna runs a Ohio zoo himself in Columbus, and I’d rather hear from a true animal behaviorist than a simple publicity hound and zookeeper like Hanna. Jack Hanna’s had years being a spokesperson for zoos in the US and has been given the kind of rare public exposure to show many different kinds of animals on late night TV, but he has no scientific education as a zoologist, biologist, primatologist, or any other related degree. He has a poli-sci and business degree…and zoos seem to be a family endeavor from a young age according to his bio. He knows how to keep zoos in business…that’s his claim to fame imo.
So I’m with you chammy. This kind of rubs me the wrong way.
Btw, anyone ever read “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn? That book for some reason had a profound impact on me.