… where they can go extinct like God intended, amiright?
Seriously, as horrendous as zoos are, they are also responsible for keeping many many species around which human “progress” would otherwise have made extinct long ago. I’d prefer more “natural” settings, but the primary mission of many (although not all) zoos is conserving populations of threatened species while educating people about the variety of life.
Thought this board needed at least one “zoos aren’t evil” voice.
I too look forward to Jane Goodall’s take on this. Or any other experts on gorilla behavior. What did the zookeepers think the gorilla might do or inclined to do?
srfromgr - you are right. We should wait until there are more educated opinions on the matter before passing final judgement on if the shooting was justified. My default position is that those who know this gorilla and worked with him daily were the best to make that decision so probably made the right one, but their decision would also have been clouded by natural risk aversion (if they chose tranquilizer and were wrong the zoo would likely have not survived at all and all involved would have had to deal with long-term psychological and financial consequences; if they chose bullets and were wrong no one knows and they have one fewer of a critically endangered species).
So, I’ll let the larger animal behaviorist community pass ultimate judgement (which should then be used to better react if/when such a situation happens again), but I think the focus absolutely has to be on why that boy was able to get through the barriers in the first place.
I know they said the child was in serious condition at the hospital but was released the same day. How serious could that have been that he was discharged for his injuries that same day? Just curious.
I don’t have to agree with your opinion in order to respect that you have one.
Should’ve shot the irresponsible mother. Gorillas have been known to be very gentle with children.
“Do you have kids?” is the lamest excuse
Could have a broken bone. Just one is serious, but even multiples aren’t generally life threatening. I know this from breaking both arms at once when I was 10. Very serious, but I went home right after getting the bones set and casts put on. (Old style plaster, this was a long time ago. And it seriously sucked to have both arms broken at once, even if I was out of school for 3 weeks.)
And it would have been easy for him to have something broken, either from getting in or because the gorilla accidentally hurt him while handling and dragging him in the enclosure.
This is all true, but how many seconds would it have taken for the gorilla to have hurt the boy? Especially if it had become agitated from the goings on around the enclosure or getting hit by the tranquilizer dart? 4 year olds are resilient, but can be hurt accidentally by just human strength.
Bothers me that the mother’s response, wonder of god and all, was her seeming sense of her own entitlement to make a mistake. She made one by not watching her 4 year old well enough. But o, glory to god. Painless.
They really weren’t left with a choice.
It wasn’t god that saved your kid! The zoo keepers did.
And where in the hell were you while your kid was getting into trouble. Fell in my foot. More like one of the stupid parent wasn’t watching the kid closely enough. The mom said, no you are not getting in there…and there you go. Let the kid go and watched him get into the gorilla exhibit. Hold the parents responsible.
Meanwhile, an endangered gorilla is now dead from your incompetence and stupidity!
So sad.
The zoo is at fault. I don’t trust parents with their kids. I’ve been to Walmart - parents can’t control their kids. All gorillas in cages are screwed.
Blame the parent that was suppose to be caring for the kid. She heard him say he wanted into the water with the gorilla.
She should have known her kid enough to know he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
It reminds me of an horrible incidence that happened here at the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago. A three year old kept telling her mother that she wanted to go to the edge (the canyon is not fenced off). The mother said no. That’s the end of it! (to a 3 year old) and walked off. Yes, you know what happened. The kid went over the 200 foot drop and died instantly. The parent tried to blame the park service, but witnesses told the real story. Sad that parents have to learn the hard way.
Or I this case, the gorilla.
This is horrifying. And yet sadly not surprising.
Well then, maybe the mom should have taken better care of her kid.
I lived in the area for several years, so I have a lot of friends and FB friends who live in Cincinnati. The impression I’m getting from witnesses is that it happened in a flash. The mom had a couple of other kids she was also attending to when the four year old broke free and jumped into the enclosure. The mom tried to grab him and so did others. We’ve all seen an adept, wiggly toddler make a break for it and how tough it can be to catch them. This was one of those occasions. IMO, the mother deserves our understanding, not the shame that’s being heaped all over her on social media.
Thanks for this perspective. I admit that my response stems from the videos and accounts I’ve read on various news sites since I’ve never been to that zoo.
Thank you SRfromGR
Of course Hanna was okay with it. He’s in the zoo business. I know I am probably over the top in my feelings of how we treat animals, but in the 15 years I did animal rescue (mostly of cats and dogs) and I know firsthand how humans treat and mistreat animals and it has soured me on a lot of humans. I too am glad the child is okay but if his parent was more responsible this wouldn’t have happened. And if these zoos care so much about these animals, then why was it so easy for this child to get through and jump in the den.
I went to a Zoo once and will never go to another. There are many wonderful oganizations that are dedicated to saving wildlife such as the African Wildlife Organization, World Wildlife Fund and many many more. If you want to do something to help them save these endangered animals, give whatever you can. Charity Navigator is a great resource for determining the good these organization do.