An endangered gorilla has been shot dead after a 4-yo fell into its zoo enclosure

[AdrenalineFudge]

Why the fuck has this happened... again - to another endangered species?

A little boy fell into an enclosure and the zoo staff decided the best course of action was to shoot the gorilla dead.

I'm not even sure who I'm most angry at. This should not have happened in the first place.

I wonder if I was ever as smug and confident that no harm would ever come to them

Haven't seen anyone on this thread saying no harm will ever befall their dc because they're such great parents. Accidents happen, to careful grownups too, not just dc. We live among hazards in our homes and daily lives, and yes, accidents do happen.

Teaching children basic safety and discipline is so important. Will it ensure that your dc never has an accident in this life? Of course not, but you have to teach them anyway. I'm not reading this as a simple case of a child falling accidentally into the enclosure. He climbed in. A pp described the physical setting. Sounds like he wanted to play and didn't appreciate the danger - someone needed to have taught him that a zoo is not like a playground. Someone = parent.

None of us are perfect parents and have made mistakes, but i assume its not rocket science to hold a small child's hand/ keep them on a leash in places like this. I doubt that it was a split second for a child to scale a fence.

You say you're a parent... I'm guessing you must be one of a baby or very young children.... Have you ever seen a parent keep hold of a 4 year olds hand or have them on a leash (really?!) at all times around a zoo.... Ffs, that's utterly ridiculous. I've been to lots of zoo visits (had annual pass to one) and have never, ever seen a parent with this kind of neurotic overprotective attitude!

For a 4 yo to be able to get into an enclosure (not an intrepid 12 yo), the security must have been extremely shoddy. For potentially dangerous animals in my experience there is always more than one fence between you and the enclosure.

Jus read that the police are saying that the parents may be charged.

You can teach the theory as much as you like, and most of us do. Young children are creatures of impulse and have little understanding of consequences.
I got a class of 6 year olds to draw a stranger, after we'd all had a safeguarding talk about rules delivered by experts and teachers and parents over a week. Without exception they drew a tall sinister male with a frown, fangs and red eyes.
Did you see this social experiment?
abc13.com/family/social-experiment-would-your-kid-go-with-a-stranger/697911/
'Armed with a puppy, Joey befriends the child the same way a predator might. He then asks the kid to leave with him under the guise of introducing his other puppies.

Joey does the experiment three times, and each time the outcome is the same: The shocked mother, who swore her child would never leave with a stranger, watches as each child holds hands and walks away with a man they just met.'

There are no simple answers with children, and complacency is very dangerous.

When you visit a place like a zoo you expect a certain level of health snd safety shown be the attraction. At a zoo I would expect that to be fences that do not have gaps in that kids can crawl through.

And to the PP that said the mother sounded like an imbecile! Ffs she was watching her baby being man handled by an animal. I hope if you are ever in a situation where someone you love is likely to die you remain calm, sensible and quiet. Horrid comment which I will be reporting.

'Haven't seen anyone on this thread saying no harm will ever befall their dc because they're such great parents.'

No one has said that, but it's what many believe. That if they can tick all the boxes, nothing bad will happen. Touch wood, hang a charm on the cot, say your prayers, cut out sugar, don't smack, watch your children, trust your gut...

My child's hand would be tightly in mine or the child would be in my arms. If she had several kids and she couldn't do that then she shouldn't have gone alone.

thebest Really? Is every school trip to a zoo that occurs daily up and down the land negligent then? I can understand your emotions are an event like this but are you serious?

Frankly if a 4yo child can get in, the animal could get out... Holding your child in your arms won't do much good then! If there is fault here, it's primarily the zoo's not the parents'. Either you go to a zoo and are confident enough in the zoos security not to treat kids like their crossing a busy duel carriageway, or you don't go.

I certainly did in crowded/potentially dangerous places. Maybe neurotic, but after my then 3yo ds did a runner at an airport. As well as in zoos, next to certain areas. And i wish more people did. Because behaviour of some is truly appalling.

I read that the mother was actually telling the boy repeatedly "no you can't go in the water" but that she had several other young kids and obviously got distracted, and the boy went for the water.

I often get compliments on how well behaved my 4 year old DS is, but this is something that, in one of his stroppy, over excited (I'm at the zoo!) moods he would be totally capable of doing in about 3 seconds flat.

I'm shocked and appalled that the zoo had such poor barriers for a highly dangerous and endangered animal (and no a fence that can be climbed by a 4 year old and some bushes don't count as sufficient barriers). The zoo's I've been too, even crappy ones in third world countries have better barriers than the one the Cincinnati Zoo has. Sadly it seems they learned their lesson the hard way, and I'm sure they're all devastated. :(

It's a sad situation all around, and demonizing the parents doesn't help.

demonizing the parents doesn't help.

Sorry, that should read mother because nobodies bothered to mention that father (shock!)

m.facebook.com/itvnews/

Scroll down the petition part..some people are really frothing at the mouth here.

Funny though isn't it? Two lions were shot the other week and everyone just shrugs their shoulders and says oh well. Gorilla gets shot and everyone starts trying to finger blame somewhere

The usual thing, a creature suffers because of the utter stupidity of parents. The mother kept telling him - bit like Joyce Grenfell - "don't do that, George". You often see parents picking up their kids and perching them on signs that say "do not cross/climb" so it's no wonder the children take no notice. Poor gorilla

Yes. She was trying to keep the child calm. You panic, child panics more, Gorilla panics even more. Hence the swooping him and almost drowning the child presumably. Mistakenly thinking hes protecting him. They were already several adults and children screaming being told to keep calm by a man in a different video. I don't know how to do links but it is available on Twitter for those who wish to see a different perspective.

The usual thing, a creature suffers because of the utter stupidity of parents.

and nothing to do with the zoo not making their enclosures child-proof. ffs, if I can child-proof my kitchen cupboards, a zoo should be able to child-proof a gorilla enclosure!!

Yeah, awful. Thats why since then i hold them tight in places like that.

Good to know that despite your judginess you are absolutely no better than this mother than Nataleejah.

The zoo did the right thing in the awful circumstances. Hopefully zoos will be a thing of the past one day. Animals belong in the wild, and this situation should never have occurred. I hope that the little boy makes a full recovery.

There's a delightful meme on my facebook feed this morning 'I was killed because some bitch wasn't watching her child'

Totally the mothers fault then even though the father was there too.

This was a tragic accident, no one is to blame.

To the poster who said if the child could get in the animal could get out, there was a 10-12ft drop, gorillas can't clime a vertical surface. The little boy is very lucky the 10-12ft fall didnt cause him a more serious injury.

The boy got in through a hedge/bush didnt he? He is 4 and 4 year olds cant work out complicated routes they takeeasy opportunity

I saw that meme too Katz. Why are people so quick to vilify the mother? I'd assume the father was there too, or is he somehow banished of all responsibility? What about the zoo who had put the safety of their guests in danger by not ensuring their safety? It all makes me a bit

Didn't he leave the boy alone at the end? Why was he then shot? Seems to me it was a knee jerk reaction so the zoo couldn't be blamed if anything had happened to the boy.

Spud - the news reports say both were present.

I'm not convinced the zoo is too blame either, the enclosure has been in place for years and this hasn't happened before. I think it's just a tragic accident.

In USA they shoot PEOPLE first and ask questions later. And here's an animal

I wonder if all the people who are so outraged by this shooting are eating meat regularly (which requires the shooting of equally beautiful animals). I'm a meat eater and think the right thing was done to protect a human life.