Tragedy at Cincinnati zoo

[zico20]

This story is really horrible. A 4 year old boy crawls through an opening and falls into the gorilla habitat. The keepers deemed the situation too dangerous and shot the lowland gorilla to death. The lowland gorilla is an endangered species and more should have been done to resolve the problem, like tranquilize the gorilla or throw food into the pit and then sneak in and get the boy when the gorilla was preoccupied.

If the parents were there and the boy was not on a field trip or something, then they should be brought up on child endangerment charges and made to pay the costs of the whole ordeal. Yes, the zoo should have better security considering how idiotic some parents are these days, but this never should have happened.

I bet this will end with the parents winning a multi million dollar lawsuit from the zoo. I guess stupidity can lead to prosperity.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cincinnat...013416464.html

[Marshall Bennett]

Every second lost could have meant the child losing his life. They did what they should have done ending any threat of that immediately. The gorilla could have killed the child in an instant if it chose to.

[tucker6]

How do people working at the zoo not see an opening big enough for a 4 year old to crawl through? Anyway, I am against zoos. Wild animals should be in their natural habitat, and we should be protecting those habitats. Oh, and the parents/guardians were negligent too. Seems the only one who did nothing wrong here was the one that was executed.

[Inner Dirt]

No way do you take even the minimal amount of risk to human life in this situation. Kind of shocked at your reaction Zico about the death of the gorilla, sounds like a tree hugging liberal's response. Not sure about negligence charges for the parents I think that depends. Sometimes kids unexpectedly dart away catching even attentive parents of guard.

[tucker6]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

No way do you take even the minimal amount of risk to human life in this situation. Kind of shocked at your reaction Zico about the death of the gorilla, sounds like a tree hugging liberal's response. Not sure about negligence charges for the parents I think that depends. Sometimes kids unexpectedly dart away catching even attentive parents of guard.

I'm no tree hugger either, but your callous disregard for an animal having to die for no other reason than being in the right place at the wrong time is just as shocking. I think we all get the "saving a child's life" here. Some of us care about the gorilla's fate too.

Similar to a story down here a couple years ago. A 12 foot gator had lived peacefully in its pond for over 20 years and never bothered anyone. Humans set up a soccer pitch nearby one day and a kid kicks the ball into the pond. Gator goes to investigate the ball and gets a death sentence. Believe it or not, that is considered an act that will get an alligator killed around here. He did nothing wrong and was in the middle of his pond, but got shot the next day. No humans came around him at all. Disgusting.

[horses4courses]

I didn't see a video clip of the incident on the OP.
Just saw on CNN the gorilla dragging the kid around the enclosure.
Horrifying.

Tragic that the gorilla was killed, but they unfortunately had no option.
When animals are taken into captivity, which is unfortunate in itself,
all necessary measures must be taken to ensure a tragedy like this can't happen.
Too often, a curious child can slip through bars to get closer.
It happens in plenty of countries outside the US, as well.

Bottom line - we need less zoos and animals in captivity.
Endangered species deserve special attention.
Animals in captivity for human entertainment should be phased out.

[OntheRail]

It is very tragic indeed for the Gorilla. The parents should be charge for the loss of him along with child endangerment. In this day and age I would not put it past the parents to have encourage or helped facilitate the act for a viral video or financial gain.

RIP Harambe

[Fager Fan]

This is the video I saw, and it breaks my heart for the Gorilla. He was being gentle with the boy, and even started protecting him. I won't condemn the zoo for the choice they made, but I sure do wish there was something else they could've done after seeing the way the Gorilla was interacting with the child.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...2211?cid=sm_fb

I'm conservative, by the way.

[Inner Dirt]

After seeing the pictures I can't believe anyone is against shooting the gorilla.
It would take that gorilla a second to seriously maim or kill that kid. I cannot believe how many people turn into tree huggers over a gorilla. I love animals like the next guy, but I won't pick their life over a human.

[ronsmac]

The parent was neglectful but they had to kill the gorilla. It may have been a tragedy that the gorilla was killed but would've been a bigger tragedy if the gorilla killed the child.

[chrisl]

I am so against zoos.I do not know the situation with the parents. I have witnessed so many times, children running way ahead of there parents on a city sidewalk. Live traffic feet away. Parents talking on there cell phones. So sad about the useless death of any animal.

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

After seeing the pictures I can't believe anyone is against shooting the gorilla.
It would take that gorilla a second to seriously maim or kill that kid. I cannot believe how many people turn into tree huggers over a gorilla. I love animals like the next guy, but I won't pick their life over a human.

It's hardly being a tree hugger to see that gorilla not being aggressive at all, but because of neglect by a human, he was killed. The kid went under a fence then over wire before falling 10 feet into the stream. That takes longer than a split second. That is neglect by the mom or the zoo, it sounds like the former. Has she not heard of this happening before? Just a thought - how about holding the kid's hand or even tie him to you when you're near a zoo enclosure. Maybe zoos should start demanding "kid leashes" for kids under 8.

[Robert Fischer]

The whole "the gorilla is an endangered species" stuff seems silly when the gorilla is in captivity on display in "Gorilla World".

Now if a poacher in Africa goes and kills the grill or captures the Corolla to bring over to sell to grill Grill a world of whatever my voice to text keeps screwing up you get the idea forget it

[Grits]

I just now saw a video on the evening news... It was terribly sad as the gorilla seemed so curious of the child. Still, the zoo had to make an instant decision as the gorilla, yes, was gentle, but then, suddenly, he dragged the child rapidly through moving water.

An eye witness stated the child kept saying to his mother, "I wanna go down there." His mother, had other children with her, still that doesn't matter. She is guilty of child endangerment by not paying attention. She should've NEVER taken her eyes off of her curious preschooler!!

What will anger me? If she sues the zoo claiming anguish and suffering, and all other BS.

Terribly sad, given the piece also showed two incidents from years ago. Individuals had fallen into gorilla enclosures. In both incidents, no harm came to the humans. One of the gorillas even took the person to the enclosure's staff.

As someone has said, the animals should never be there to begin with. When will we ever learn.

I'll be curious to read what Jack Hanna, (who I loved to see with Letterman for years) wildlife advocate and Columbus Zoo Director Emeritus has to say.

[Fager Fan]

I'm not against zoos as long as they have proper habitats. I think it's a mistake to assume an animal isn't happy in a zoo. They don't have to fend for food, have top vet care when injured or sick, and they dont have to constantly be on alert for predators. It's probably not too fun when they get ripped apart by a tiger, or die slow agonizing deaths when they break as leg. It's not all roses in the wild either.

I think zoos are interesting, educational, and results in many people who work on their behalf. They're also responsible for keeping some animals from going extinct. I just don't want to see giraffes live in a quarter acre habitat. Properly done, I think zoos are positive.