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Original poster

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

675 replies

AdrenalineFudge · 29/05/2016 20:32

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.

OP posts:
TormundGiantsbabe · 30/05/2016 17:02

It's a shame that people who are so distraught about the gorilla can't also find some compassion for a fellow human being who made a mistake and is now being vilified on the internet by the pack mentality brought about by the safety of anonymity and the distancing effect of "words on a screen".

PhilPhilConnors · 30/05/2016 17:03

So if the child was yours Shanny, and managed to slip away (like children often do), would you watch your child being dragged through the water and be confident that the gorilla was just being curious?

I know I wouldn't.

The gorilla may have just been curious, but could have easily killed the boy.

There should not be any way for any zoo visitors to end up in an animal enclosure.

MistressMerryWeather · 30/05/2016 17:09

You're doing an awful lot of assuming there, Shanny.

Gorillas are amazing, intelligent and beautiful creatures but ultimately they are wild animals and that makes them unpredictable.

No amount of evidence regarding their behaviour would be able to prove what this individual Gorilla was capable of. Personally, I trust the zoo keepers here.

It almost feels like people are critiquing a movie on how it should have ended.

SaveSomeSpendSome · 30/05/2016 17:13

A lot of people are saying he shouldnt of been shot. If your child was in there would you still say the same thing?

StarsLook · 30/05/2016 17:15

But our children wouldn't have been there, we wouldn't have let them climb into a cage at 4 years old

SaveSomeSpendSome · 30/05/2016 17:16

But if they did become in that situation would you say let my child be killed?

Andrewofgg · 30/05/2016 17:17

angelos02

I'm no animal lover but don't see how the life of a grown mammal is seen as less important than that that of a small mammal.

You're certainly no lover of humans, are you?

The "small mammal" was a human and that is sufficient answer to your question.

Kenduskeag · 30/05/2016 17:17

"Aside from the fact I bloody hate zoos animal prisons..."

Yeah, so much safer out in the wild to be poached, rounded up and slaughtered for 'medicine'. Zoos are primarily a conservation zone. They keep animals safe from all the humans who want to kill them. Putting them on view pays the bills.

I'm curious as to why the fence clearly had space wide enough for a child to climb in. Zoo fences I've seen are very, very secure and very high, preventing idiots getting in and animals getting out. If a four year old can climb in, that's rather a large gap. Certainly large enough for a gorilla to have gotten out of, had the mood taken it.

NeedACleverNN · 30/05/2016 17:19

But our children wouldn't have been there, we wouldn't have let them climb into a cage at 4 years old

I would like to think none of my children could gain access to a gorilla cage in the first place tbh. It's easy to say well I would be watching my children so they wouldn't have been there in the first place but no one can watch them like a hawk for every second they are outside. I don't. I try my best but I've got two of them. If one goes one way and the other goes the other what am I supposed to do? Split myself in two

thebestfurchinchilla · 30/05/2016 17:23

In a class of 25, there are 2 liable to run off, not follow instructions. The rest are very sensible, age 5. They listen to warnings about safety, stay close to their group leader. The 'runner' will hold my hand or the hand of another adult. On a trip I am responsible, I don't want to be telling the mother I have lost her child in a gorilla enclosure. As someone else said, if you can't trust your child and/ or don't have enough adult help then you shouldn't be there.

thebestfurchinchilla · 30/05/2016 17:27

I'd like to ask those who think too much judgement is being made of the parents a question. What would your response be to your child's teacher if they told you that your child had got into the gorilla enclosure on a school trip and was mauled because they took their eye off him for few minutes?

Flashbangandgone · 30/05/2016 17:37

thebest

My anger would be directed almost fully at the zoo!!.. Why isn't your 'judgement' placed there? I've never been to a zoo where dangerous animals were not very well secured behind at least two barriers penetrable only by a determined adult with tools at their disposal. Perhaps those criticising the parents are either not from the UK (where perhaps animals are less secure) or haven't been to a zoo since the 70s when it probably was possible for 4 yo to climb into many pens relatively easily!

Nataleejah · 30/05/2016 17:37

If one goes one way and the other goes the other what am I supposed to do? Split myself in two
Here's to those asking why blame mother and not father

Fairuza · 30/05/2016 17:39

I'd be furious that a dangerous animal enclosure wasn't secure.
I wouldn't blame a teacher for not having a superhuman ability to watch 6 children simultaneously and predict all 4 year old behaviour.

MistressMerryWeather · 30/05/2016 17:42

I think I would be pretty devastated, given that my child had just been mauled by a gorilla.

If you mean would I expect there to be consequences for you then if I'm honest? Probably.

But there is a difference between being a parent and being a professional. There are errors that parents are allowed to make that teacher's are not.

thebestfurchinchilla · 30/05/2016 17:42

Oh really? I can just imagine a thread "My child wasn't looked after on a school trip and was mauled by a gorilla!" I think we all know where the blame would be directed.

green18 · 30/05/2016 17:43

But there is a difference between being a parent and being a professional. There are errors that parents are allowed to make that teacher's are not.

Classic.

MistressMerryWeather · 30/05/2016 17:44

Am I wrong Green?

YoureSoSlyButSoAmI · 30/05/2016 17:45

Quite frankly some of the replies on here implying that an animal is more important than a human child lead me to suspect that some people aren't quite right in the head.

AppleSetsSail · 30/05/2016 17:46

I don't think a human life is worth more than one of our majestic endangered species such as a gorilla or an elephant. I actually think it's worth far less. That said, if it were my child I would have wanted them to do exactly what they did.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 30/05/2016 17:46

But there is a difference between being a parent and being a professional. There are errors that parents are allowed to make that teacher's are not.

So someone who is paid to look after a child is held responsible to a higher standard then the parents who look after their own child?

What fresh madness is that?

MistressMerryWeather · 30/05/2016 17:48

I didn't mean it like that.

I was talking about consequences for actions.

wiltingfast · 30/05/2016 17:49

The bottom line here is that dangerous animals were accessible by a 4 yo.

A 4 yo.

That is insane.

green18 · 30/05/2016 17:50

I was talking about consequences for actions.

The consequences are that a child was neglected and harmed due to lack of judgement by an adult. That's the only consequence that matters.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 30/05/2016 17:51

So a teacher makes a mistake and loses their job or worse, a parent makes the same and gets told "There there, no one can't pay attention all the time. and it was only a nasty gorilla anyway"

Why should there be different consequences?