To think it's unfair to blame the mother of child hurt by gorilla?

[pinkladyapple]

Yes if she was holding his hand maybe he wouldn't have ended up in the enclosure. But he could have gone over/through the fence in a split second. And the zoo should have fencing which makes this impossible, surely?

The parents aren't being prosecuted for negligence and yet the Internet seem angry at the mother.

But then the people who think that also seem to think a tranquilliser works instantly, and the gorilla wouldn't react to the pain or impact of the dart.

It's sad and terrible though. For everyone.

I think it's just one of those things, a freak accident. You can't make anything 100% safe.

Having seen the video, he was getting pulled through the water pretty fast. The bystanders sounded pretty scared toward the end, the zoo did the right thing.

The mum said he had scrapes and a concussion but no broken bones. The boy was very lucky, the gorilla not so.

sorry if my child said he wanted to play with the guerilla i would be keeping a very close eye on him,sorry if you dont like that but its true.

Great autocorrect bakeoff cake, I'm not sure playing with a guerilla would be much fun either

I have posted about this before but 11 years ago our tiny 10month old walked through the gap in the railings and into the elephant enclosure at Chester zoo.

The gap just wasn't designed to stop a toddler of his size. We consider ourselves sensible people (Teacher and HCP) and we were standing right beside him at the time. He didn't have to squeeze through he literally just walked through. Luckily we were able to grab him straight back.

We contacted the zoo immediately and followed it up several times with emails but they did nothing. Even now it would be easy for a child to get into that enclosure.

I feel so sorry for all concerned in this incident.

If there was gaps in the fence could this have been a safety issue of gorillas escaping?
Obviously not adult ones but smaller gorillas.

I'm shocked that a kid was able to get in the enclosure as you always think there would be at least 2 fences and it wouldn't be possible.

Shazza why are you just angry at the mother?? What about daddy!!

Of course the zoo keeper was upset. I'm upset about it, but it was the only thing to do. Zoos have a lot to learn from this. FENCE THE BLOODY ENCLOSURES SAFELY!! I fence my footpaths to ensure my horses can't hurt anyone (or anyone them), I fence my sheep in so dogs can't get at the,, I fence my chicken enclosure so that foxe's can't get in, I fence my garden so my dogs can't get out and frighten anyone. It's not rocket science, it's part of animal husbandry, and it's more important if you are inviting paying guests in to see the animals.

I think the most grump out there is from perfectly sensible people who loathe the death of a very precious animal needlessly. Especially as gorillas are practically extinct. He was killed as a sacrifice to a toddler, of whom no one can help noticing there are rather a lot.

Nutshell: people rightly care about the gorilla - heresy on MN, but this is one of those events where kidtitlement doesn't cut it.

The irony is all conservation work - like the zoo where the killing took place - is in the interests of human children more than anyone.

Mind you, the poor little boy would have been finished off fairly rapidly by the pathetically doomed gorilla, who would then have been shot anyway. Only one killing - that's one to remember amid the outrage.

Maybe you would shazza but the general view of the posters on the thread seems to be that most people wouldn't think that it would be possible for a child to fall into the enclosure but well done you for being the better parent

My nephew wanted to cuddle the cheetah at cricket St Thomas!

But he wouldn't have been able to do so because there was a SECURE double ringed fence (plus me and my sister explained why it wasn't such a good idea)

Just a thought, but if the zoo's "negligence" meant it was so easy for the child to get into this enclosure, and this sort of thing can take "literally a split second" how come we've not heard of it happening there before?

The gorillas can't escape because of the 3m wall at the side of the moat.

Re. zoo enclosures being built to keep animals in, not people out - I live near a farm park which has a variety of mostly domesticated animals for children to look at. We have visited often.

The fencing on all their animal enclosures is high enough to prevent a 4 yr old climbing over without adult assistance, and secure enough to prevent a 4 yr old slipping under or through a fence.

If a farm park can do this for attractions featuring mostly domestic animals, why on earth can't a zoo manage secure fencing that keeps out people - or at least small children - for dangerous wild animals?

I'm very upset that the gorilla was shot. Such a distressing story. Yes, the parents do need to take responsibility for their child and the zoo should have ensured the fencing was robust too. However, there is an expectation that people will keep their children under control.

I am sick and tired of observing parents not keeping an eye on their children. I was in the supermarket the other day and saw parents allowing their children to run up and down the aisles, almost knocking over an older lady in the process. The child ended up falling over themselves, requiring first aid. In a similar vein, I was also on a train and found a young child wandering around while their mother, in a different carriage, was playing with their telephone. Ok not a gorilla enclosure but these were public spaces which also present risks. Those parents at the zoo knew their child and knew he was asking to go in. They should have taken precautions to minimise the risk of this happening. Upsetting.

Beautiful gorilla.

He was killed as a sacrifice to a toddler, of whom no one can help noticing there are rather a lot.

You aren't seriously suggesting any other course of action was available? Let the gorilla kill the child because that's nature and there are loads more kids so it doesn't matter? It's awful the gorilla was shot and killed but once he was becoming agitated towards the child there really wasn't any other course of action.

I cried when I heard this had happened, it made me so sad.

Why didn't they just use a tranquilliser on the animal instead of shooting it dead?

IMO the parents should have been supervising their four year old a lot better than they did.

The only animals that any visitor should have the potential to get in touching distance of in a zoo are ones not harmful to humans. I had no idea I had to ensure my dcs weren't eaten by tigers, crocodiles or poisonous snakes when at the zoo. I worry about them getting lost, falling off the swings, eating too much ice cream. If I have to take responsibility for them not getting inside the enclosures of potentially lethal animals I'd rather not go back.

Here we go again.

Parents 100% to blame. Not the zoo, not the gorilla, not the kid, not the fences, not the public, the PARENTS.

She sounds completely pig headed in her interview too.

She should say 'sorry I should have been watching my child more closely'

Why didn't they just use a tranquilliser on the animal instead of shooting it dead?

Tranquilliser darts don't work quickly enough and could have made the gorilla more shires putting the boy in more danger.

Shires?! Agitated.

Yabu for yet another thread
But yes its not down to just the mother if the father was there too. They would be both at fault

Why didn't they just use a tranquilliser on the animal instead of shooting it dead?

Firstly because tranquilizers can take time to work, and secondly because no-one could know what the gorilla's reaction to being "shot" might be

I was in the library with my dd once and I looked away long enough to post a returned book in the slot. She was gone. CCTV showed she'd moved behind another family and while I was scanning the immediate area, left with that family through the doors and into the street. It took 10 minutes until a member of the public found her. I was in bits. Everybody on here was kind. Spoke about how similar things had happened, reassured me that it takes only seconds and not one mean or judgemental comment. Had she been hurt, would it change any of that?

Nobody can say what actually happened with any certainty but nobody can say that they have never glanced away from their 4yo for a few seconds either. You can't make absolute statements about guilt. The mother may have been neglectful and culpable but it's overwhelmingly possible that it could have happened to any mother and it be sheer bad luck.

I think blaming the parents (mother) is disgusting. It could have happened to absolutely any of us, the most vigilant of mothers. Even if the little boy HAD been saying he wanted to get in with the bloody gorilla - as if you'd seriously believe he could. I blame the zoo, as far as blame goes. They have a duty of care to stop anyone getting in to the animals - to protect the animals, never mind the visitors.

They did right exterminating the animal.