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'We'd make the same decision,' zoo director says of gorilla shooting

Bucky

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(CNN)Zookeepers shot and killed a rare gorilla after a four-year-old boy slipped into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, triggering an outcry over how the situation was handled.

Footage shot by a witness shows Harambe, the 17-year-old male gorilla, standing near the boy, who went under a rail, through wires and over a moat wall to get into the enclosure, according to the zoo. The footage later shows Harambe dragging the child through the water as the clamor of the crowd grows louder and increasingly panicked.

Did Cincinnati Zoo really have to kill a rare gorilla? - CNN.com

This was completely unnecessary killing a gorilla that shouldn't be there in the first place. What a gross overreaction caused by a negligent mother that couldn't control her child.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

You ever had a 4 year old? They can get away from anyone, no matter how close you watch them or how fast you are. It kinda surprises me the cage was designed so something that size could get through it. I would have thought it had something like chicken wire or smaller to keep vermin out if no other reason.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

~ a gorilla that shouldn't be there in the first place ~

Unfortunately they are not safe in their home territory though. I think many large animal species will soon only be found in zoos and thus it is the duty of those looking after them to really look after them. Enclosures that people can climb or fall into need to be reviewed quickly.

By the way, not the first time a child has fallen into a silverback's enclosure - I remember the case here in the UK when a small child fell into an enclosure and this time the gorilla stood guard over him and protected him from the other gorillas.

 
Re: RIP Harambe

Seems that the crowd got the gorilla agitated and he started making aggressive moves on the kid. Hard decision to make either way.

But I think the child's parents should be held financially responsible, if not criminally, at the very least.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

You ever had a 4 year old? They can get away from anyone, no matter how close you watch them or how fast you are. It kinda surprises me the cage was designed so something that size could get through it. I would have thought it had something like chicken wire or smaller to keep vermin out if no other reason.

This is the definition of negligence. No different than a mother leaving her child inside a car when it is 100 degrees. The mother should be prosecuted.

The zoo should be shut down until they can secure the premise. A shame a innocent Gorilla had to be murdered because of this.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

You ever had a 4 year old? They can get away from anyone, no matter how close you watch them or how fast you are. It kinda surprises me the cage was designed so something that size could get through it. I would have thought it had something like chicken wire or smaller to keep vermin out if no other reason.

If you have to put a leash on that child, you have to do so. Or at least grab your child's hand really tight. The zoo may seem like a fun atmosphere but as evident by this story, it is very dangerous.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

The zoo had to make a hard choice. They have a dangerous animal reaction team. The team, who were there, not us safe in our houses, had to make a snap decision. After seeing the four year old dragged in the moat, the made the decision to use lethal force on the gorilla. I stand behind them on that decision. The zoo made a mistake in assuming that the animal enclosure was secure enough that a child couldn't get into it. They were wrong. The parents failed to keep their child with them. In the end the gorilla paid the price.

If this went to a civil case against the parents, there would be a counter suit against the zoo. The zoo should revisit their animal enclosures to make certain that a child can't fit between the lower bars.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Unfortunately they are not safe in their home territory though. I think many large animal species will soon only be found in zoos and thus it is the duty of those looking after them to really look after them. Enclosures that people can climb or fall into need to be reviewed quickly.

By the way, not the first time a child has fallen into a silverback's enclosure - I remember the case here in the UK when a small child fell into an enclosure and this time the gorilla stood guard over him and protected him from the other gorillas.



Very nice.

Yeah it was quite obvious that this gorilla knew that he had a baby on his hands and that it was all the screaming and yelling that wound him up. He simply didn't know what to do and he was being protective. I don't think the poor guy needed to be shot and I also think that the zoo should pay all the freight on this because a kid should not have been able to get in there in the first place.

And CBS News this morning showed some of that UK footage.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

~ all the screaming and yelling that wound him up ~

I believe Harambe dragged the kid around for 10 minutes. The only footage and details talked about here are the final minute of his life so I can't comment much further on why he was shot.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Seems that the crowd got the gorilla agitated and he started making aggressive moves on the kid. Hard decision to make either way.

But I think the child's parents should be held financially responsible, if not criminally, at the very least.

Civil yes, it is going to be hard to make a criminal case stick
 
Re: RIP Harambe

You ever had a 4 year old? They can get away from anyone, no matter how close you watch them or how fast you are. It kinda surprises me the cage was designed so something that size could get through it. I would have thought it had something like chicken wire or smaller to keep vermin out if no other reason.

enhanced-buzz-4447-1367779599-0.jpg


But yeah, WTH is with the cage design. This should have never happened.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Did Cincinnati Zoo really have to kill a rare gorilla? - CNN.com

This was completely unnecessary killing a gorilla that shouldn't be there in the first place. What a gross overreaction caused by a negligent mother that couldn't control her child.

After watching the video, no it was not a gross overreaction. The situation leading up to the shooting shouldn't have been able to happen in the first place, but it did. Kid's life was in immediate danger, zoo officials had to act.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Seems that the crowd got the gorilla agitated and he started making aggressive moves on the kid. Hard decision to make either way.

But I think the child's parents should be held financially responsible, if not criminally, at the very least.

Zoo was responsible too. Kid shouldn't have been able to get in the enclosure in the first place.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

This is the definition of negligence. No different than a mother leaving her child inside a car when it is 100 degrees. The mother should be prosecuted.

The zoo should be shut down until they can secure the premise. A shame a innocent Gorilla had to be murdered because of this.

An innocent gorilla was already serving a life sentence.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Seems that the crowd got the gorilla agitated and he started making aggressive moves on the kid. Hard decision to make either way.

But I think the child's parents should be held financially responsible, if not criminally, at the very least.

Greetings, PoS. :2wave:

It just doesn't seem fair that we take animals out of their natural habitat, totally enclose them in man-made areas, then kill them if they don't act like we want them to! I've had four-year-olds, who are curious by nature, which is why you need to keep an eye on them for their own good! What if the child had fallen into a pit where snakes were kept? *shudders* Sad that an animal in captivity had to die for a parent's mistake! :thumbdown:
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Lots of mistakes made by multiple parties in this. But shooting the gorilla was not one of the mistakes. I love gorillas, but it could have seriously injured or killed the child the way he was handling him even if unintentionally. I am a speciesist. I put the life of a child above that of a gorilla.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

The Zoo is at least as responsible as the parents. The Zoo is by its nature kid zone. I can see how the kid got away, I cant understand why the enclosure wasn't more secure.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

You ever had a 4 year old? They can get away from anyone ~

I had the very same conversation 2 weeks ago with another poster. As a kid in Zambia, my parents used to take us (my elder brother who was 8 and myself at 4) to the local safari park near Lusaka. It was a walk-in park with no cars or vehicles allowed and the occasional ranger watching over some of the animals.

Access was over a 20 foot wooden gate (which reminds me of something I've seen in Jurassic Park) and my older brother used to pull me along to see the animals up close. I've been nibbled by a zebra, chased (or scared the s**t out of) by a mother elephant on two different occasions. By the third time when he wanted to go and see the rhinos I had learned not to follow along with his harebrained ideas.

I don't even remember if there were predators at that park, I just count myself lucky we never came across any.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

The zoo had to make a hard choice. They have a dangerous animal reaction team. The team, who were there, not us safe in our houses, had to make a snap decision. After seeing the four year old dragged in the moat, the made the decision to use lethal force on the gorilla. I stand behind them on that decision. The zoo made a mistake in assuming that the animal enclosure was secure enough that a child couldn't get into it. They were wrong. The parents failed to keep their child with them. In the end the gorilla paid the price.

If this went to a civil case against the parents, there would be a counter suit against the zoo. The zoo should revisit their animal enclosures to make certain that a child can't fit between the lower bars.

The reaction team that had to put the gorilla down were put in awful dilemma. Tough call to make. Damn tough call to make. You just can't "what if" when a small child is involved. I feel for the team member who had to shoot him.

With that said the zoo needs to go up to each animal enclosure and see how easy it would be for a small child to climb into.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Zoo was responsible too. Kid shouldn't have been able to get in the enclosure in the first place.

Barriers are not foolproof. Human beings will always find a way to get past them.

From reading the article it said that the child was heard talking to his mom that he was going to go inside. If that was the case then it was premeditated.

Greetings, PoS. :2wave:

It just doesn't seem fair that we take animals out of their natural habitat, totally enclose them in man-made areas, then kill them if they don't act like we want them to! I've had four-year-olds, who are curious by nature, which is why you need to keep an eye on them for their own good! What if the child had fallen into a pit where snakes were kept? *shudders* Sad that an animal in captivity had to die for a parent's mistake! :thumbdown:

I agree, pol. Not really a fan of zoos. This was the first time that it happened in this zoo so the child must have gone through extraordinary means to get in there.

A few days ago a suicidal man entered the lion enclosure in Chile and the authorities shot and killed the lions too. Poor lions.

Chile: Lions shot after man enters enclosure, strips - CNN.com
Santiago Zoo scene of suicide attempt after naked man jumps into lion cage | Daily Mail Online
 
Re: RIP Harambe

I don't blame the zoo at all for the child getting into the enclosure, this is the first time it's happened in 38 years. I do blame the "mother" for not watching her child closer. Like POS, I too have read that he repeatedly expressed a desire to go in with the gorillas. She should have taken him away to another part of the zoo or put him on a harness and leash.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Barriers are not foolproof. Human beings will always find a way to get past them.

True, but you can make it very, very difficult for a young child to do. And if anyone could do it, you would think it would be a zoo. They know how to keep very intelligent animals IN who have their entire lives to work out an escape strategy. They should be able to figure ways to keep OUT children.

A few days ago a suicidal man entered the lion enclosure in Chile and the authorities shot and killed the lions too. Poor lions.

Chile: Lions shot after man enters enclosure, strips - CNN.com
Santiago Zoo scene of suicide attempt after naked man jumps into lion cage | Daily Mail Online

Yeah, that was tragic. A lot of the comments I read on that story said, "They should have just let the lions eat him". I don't know what the hell is wrong with people.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

Hundreds if not thousands of kids are taken to that zoo every day. This is the first time that has happened. So I blame the parents. Personally we have always been able to keep up with our kids no matter their age. I see parents out all the time with kids that don't listen to a damn thing they say - without any consequences from the parents - and you know what, when your kids don't mind you and you don't keep up with them, dangerous things can happen. Its a tragedy that the gorilla had to be be shot, but because of the parent not keeping up with their kid, it was unfortunately unavoidable.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

An innocent gorilla was already serving a life sentence.

He went from a Life Sentence to the Death Penalty. Usually it goes the other way. Actually, I believe he was an endangered species, almost extinct in the wild. He lived far longer in captivity than he was likely to have lived in the wild.
 
Re: RIP Harambe

The reaction team that had to put the gorilla down were put in awful dilemma. Tough call to make. Damn tough call to make. You just can't "what if" when a small child is involved. I feel for the team member who had to shoot him.

With that said the zoo needs to go up to each animal enclosure and see how easy it would be for a small child to climb into.

It's a tough call to make. If they had opted to use non-lethal and the gorilla killed the boy, there would be those wanting the zoo closed down. They didn't really have a good option.
 
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