The Latest on the killing of a gorilla after a child fell into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo (all times local):
Source: The Latest: Police to probe circumstances of gorilla’s death but no charges are planned – The Washington Post
Not only are the police investigating what happened, the Cincinnati-based Stop Animal Exploitation NOW says the Dept. of Agriculture should fine the zoo because they were responsible for the death of the gorilla. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service are looking into the incident. It does not stop there.
As for the zoo’s management they are reviewing the zoos security arrangements to see if improvements can be made. I am afraid to tell them that improvements can be made. The facts speak for themselves. A boy got through the barrier. That clearly indicates failure.
However, in defence of the zoo the Gorilla World exhibit was inspected in April and it passed. Sorry, but I have to conclude that the inspection was not good enough.
The boy’s mother said it was an accident and she thanks God that her boy was saved. Others say that it was not an accident but careless parenting.
The problem was caused by a combination of poor parenting (although I realise mothers can’t be perfect) and less than adequate security arrangements at the zoo. The latter is the key issue as no matter how poor parenting is, if the barrier was 100% failsafe the gorilla would be alive today.
Donald Trump says the zoo did the right thing in shooting the gorilla – for what it’s worth.
Dear M E King_ I agree with your statement 100%.
Eva
I think it’s worth noting the child did not fall into the enclosure. It isn’t that cut and dried.
This child is just like the many I have seen in retail stores. Unsupervised. Parent’s tuned out. Total lack of home training. This time instead of dumping the contents of a shelf, breaking stuff or ramming innocent bystanders with cart or other general mayhem. The only difference is this time the child fell into a gorilla pit instead of running out in front of a car.
I spent some quality google time. All zoos have rules and safety cautions posted when you enter. You are entering, willingly a place where wild animals are kept. In other words it’s not just a stroll in the park. you are taking your children to a place full of things that want to eat them. And you. It’s dressed up pretty but it is a wild animal sanctuary.
I went to a circus years ago and they had dozens of elephants. They had big cats in a portable cage in one ring. None of these animals were in my opinion truly contained. Either by trainer or barrier. I actually got pretty squirmy and was glad when the show was over. We should all be thankful that when the tiger went bad it was one of the Siegfried or Roy that took the fall and not a host of innocent victims in the front row that believed the hype. We hear about it at least once a year. Some fool mistaking a wild animals habituation to humans for being tame and losing body parts or their lives.
Maybe it’s time to reevaluate who is allowed in a zoological park. Or which parts should be restricted to minors under a certain age. Zoos are a necessity until someone finds a way to convince free range human being to stop killing or hunting a species into extinction.
Holding these parents 50% liable for the loss of this gorilla would probably do more to ensure safety and parents watching their kids than a million dollars spent on new security. Somehow I get the impression they’re sort of enjoying their 15 minutes of fame.
I agree with Dee. If breeding parents can’t manage their kids, they shouldn’t have them. It’s short-sightedness and damaging in so many ways: to them, the siblings, the environment, society, everyone else and animals too obviously. There are enough people on the planet, and wildlife is plunging from our encroachment and incidents like this.
My belief is that the fault is 50/50; one half the zoo that should never have any means of access to a 4 year old and the parent(s) who failed to adequately supervise the child.
I’ve, now, learned that the mother had 3 other children to tend to.
So??????
I know what just having 2 children to safeguard entails.
This mother should have never taken 4 children, even to the grocery store, alone without someone else to help.