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.

You don't think parents have a responsibility to look after their children then?

A silverback will kill an infant that isnt theirs in a troop only a silverback has rights to mating and babies apparently

I have absolutely zero sympathy for the parents. This should not have happened at all.

No sympathy?

I've taken mine to the zoo before. One of the main things I took absolutely for granted was that the animals (particularly the dangerous ones) would be effectively separated from the people.

I have to admit that mine did run around (as they all do) and I never thought 'better keep an eye on the DC in case they wander into the lion enclosure!'

I have LOTS of sympathy for the parents.

What's the point in waxing lyrical about four year olds being able or not to get into the enclosure?

If you were the zoo keeper and were faced with this dilemma, you wouldn't sit there pondering about how this happened etc. You shoot the animal, job done.

They did the right thing in the situation presented to them at that time!

An ape considers situations i imagine if this was a big cat the wee boy would have been attacked quicke

Maybe she did tell him, but do you, or did she, really expect a 4 year old to listen if they really wanted something?

Good to know you've never made a mistake with your kids Chardonnay, but most parents have had a moment of their baby rolling off the bed, or child running into the road, or letting themselves out of the door you thought was locked, losing sight of them in a busy shop etc. Mostly we're lucky though.

Even if he looked at it and thought "young baby" his instinct would have been to kill it. Silverbacks kill other males offspring if they take over a group in order to get the females pregnant quickly. Also stops any potentially heirachy throw off when the boys get old enough

I thought only lions did that. So, gorillas don't deserve their good publicity, then? Sounds nasty. To be honest, I don't feel too bad for the gorilla in that case.

@Fairuza: People who saw the video (I didn't) said it didn't look aggressive, so my theory is that the ape didn't know what this was, and yeah, gorillas and humans are similar enough I would expect him to identify a human child as young version of an ape-like species.

Of course I've made mistakes, but really, letting a child go into the gorilla enclosure is a not really a mistake, it's much more than that.

I have massive sympathy for the parents.
One short lapse from them and their child ends up in a life endangering situation.

However. Thinking about zoos and enclosures. The PP who said that enclosures are designed to keep animals in not foolish humans out is right.
Zoos play an important part in conservation and education. People want to see the animals as 'naturally' as possible, which can mean without cages and fencing between them and the animals. So zoos put in more 'natural' barriers. But a determined human of any age finds natural barriers easier to overcome.
A foolish child in a car without child locks could get out of a car going through the lions at Longleat. Longleat wouldn't be at fault.
Parents at Jersey Zoo (Durrell) put their child up on the barrier surrounding the gorilla pit there, despite notices saying don't and the famous Jambo incident. A 4 year old good at climbing could probably get themselves into their gorilla enclosure even without an adult to lift them.
We can't / don't want to remove all risk from everything. Doing that kills the joy and fun out of some experiences. But by keeping some risk, however small, there is always a small chance something can go wrong.
Tragic all round.

Keep an eye on kids in risky situations, around wild animals, or just road traffic.

They did the right thing. Remember the woman who had to get a face transplant because a chimp ripped her to pieces? A chimp is smaller and weaker than a gorilla.

They tried. They didn't shoot him immediately. He wouldn't go in. Tranquilizers take too long to work and he could have become agitated.

Yes the child shouldn't have been able to get in etc but he DID. You have to make decisions based on what is actually happening, not what SHOULD have happened.

I don't know, I think that teaching your kid not to climb the fences in zoos is the same as teaching them not to run in the road. It's really dangerous, so don't ever do it. A 4 year old is old enough to understand that.

When I have been to the zoo with school, we speak to the kids about the fences and anyone we know it might be a problem for we keep with an adult and do a risk assessment for etc.

I don't know where misogyny has come from, i would say exactly the same if it had been the dad

I am utterly bemused that anyone should think shooting that gorilla was a bad idea. A four year olds life was in danger.

Yeah not just lions

Most animals who live in groups do it. Chimps, baboons, Tigers.

Prey animals like deer who don't kill don't do it

Even a 4 year old who has been told and understands does unpredictable things sometimes Highsteaks.

Vestal - gorillas are wild animals like any other, you can't ascribe human feelings and thought processes to them.

I know Limon It beggars belief.

I don't know why they didn't tranquillise the gorilla. How did the boy get in? Where were the parents?

I don't know why they didn't tranquillise the gorilla

I give up

No Fairuza don't be disingenuous. An animal that should not be kept in an enclosure was killed. Yes little children can run off but for a small child just over the stage of toddler-hood to get inside that enclosure seems like a massive failure on the parents behalf. And also of the zoo itself but still. No one comes out of this smelling of roses.

Children get lost at zoos and other attractions all the time Adrenaline - do all their negligent parents deserve no sympathy if something terrible happens to them?

'I'm glad those of you who have no sympathy for the mother are suck perfect fucking parents.

Pray karma doesn't bite you on the ass.'

LOL. Karma doesn't exist and if it does, it doesn't work like that. Otherwise, you seriously believe that bad things happen, even to people's children, because of their parents' actions. That's pretty fucked up. And stupid.

It's a terrible situation. Very sad that a gorilla was killed due to negligence of the parents. I did wonder why they don't have some kind of stun gun/taiser(?) type thing for emergencies rather than killing the animal.

Even a 4 year old who has been told and understands does unpredictable things sometimes

Yes, that's why their parents ought to watch them.

thebest - the parents threw the kid in. The keepers were trigger happy trophy hunters.

Why are people insinuating that the gorilla should have been tranquilized? As PP have said it wouldn't have worked quick enough and it would have agitated the gorilla.