Child falls into gorilla exhibit at Cincinnati zoo

[crisTEAne 21,059]

35 minutes ago, littlepotter said:

Okay this is creepy the tv show I'm watching just showed this clip

I'm actually really surprised. I expected them to be like '**** yeah kill that monster' but they actually were on the gorillas side. He didn't do anything wrong, and they could have done many things beside killing him. Slay @ my country becoming more and more progressive

what did they say?

as i said before, i refuse to believe that killing that poor animal was the only option. 

[Kayla 7,595]

16 hours ago, skeleton.gun said:

why did they have to kill the gorilla, tho? they could have used tranquilizer or something... 

Tranquilizers are not always effective, and if they are it often takes at least a couple minutes to set in and in that time the animal can become aggressive. This is especially serious in the case of an animal that is known to potentially be aggressive to begin with. Not to mention, you're not guaranteed the shot will get in the right place. And it's not as simple as "just up the dosage!" because of the risk of overdosing the animal and thus killing them anyways. 

 

16 hours ago, skeleton.gun said:

The drug causes the target to become sleepy and suddenly become unconscious within minutes.

i think it was unnecessary to kill that poor animal. 

Zoos don't want to kill their animals. When something like this happens, the entire staff feels horrible. The shoot-to-kill method is used because IF a human does die by the hands of an animal, all these "Poor gorilla!" types are drowned out by people angry at the zoo and putting the zoo at risk of complete closure. 

People wanna act like they think the gorilla's life is just as valid as that child's, but at the end of the day had a child died the legal outcome and people with pitchforks would look waaaay different. 

I say this from experience. I actually was working at a zoo in 2011 and we had an incident where a wolf had gotten into an area with human foot-traffic and was shot and killed. That was where I learned about the use of tranquilizers, their usual lack of efficiency, and the fact that when you have to choose between human life and animal life, zoo staff chooses human life, but they hate that it has to happen that way. (Not that they'd want to let a human die instead, but they hate that there isn't a better way with our current technology)

 

15 hours ago, Love Drought said:

Imprisoning animals is not fun. If you do, the least you can do is train them in social behavior. If they would have done that, the gorilla would be used to the presence of a human and wouldn't have dragged the child. At least he didn't beat him or something.

I agree with training. Operant conditioning methods are becoming really popular in captive animal settings but we still have a long way to go. I've seen places that trained their large carnivores to accept getting vaccinations and actually press their own bodies against the needle to allow it to happen - it's crazy how effective positive reinforcement can go. 

Cool story- at Disney's Animal Kingdom they have a bird show, and one day a macaw flew off-course and ended up in the tiger enclosure. The tigers deeeefinitely took notice and were beginning to approach the bird. Bird show staff radioed the tiger keepers, who rang a bell the tigers knew meant to be the cue to come back into holding, and the tigers ditched the bird and went back into holding.

Imagine if they'd had something like that to use on the gorilla!

 

15 hours ago, HOMODRAKE said:

Yet another reason for me to hate zoos 

Gorillas are not domestic animals. They are wild animals. And wild animals belong in the damn WILD! 

Also, I hope the parents get charged with child neglect! 

I agree with animals belonging in the wild, and decades ago zoos very much used to be there solely for entertainment. But nowadays zoos raise a ****ton of money for organizations, research, and projects that help animals way more than the people who point fingers at zoos. Many are involved in endangered species protection plans and worldwide efforts to create habitats for the animals they keep, and it's keeping those animals and charging people admission to see them that helps get funding. 

Not to mention, zoos nowadays are very educationally-focused, so they're also a part of the reason why so many kids grow into adults that care about and want to help the natural world. 

It doesn't mean everything about zoos is good, but please understand that they exist for more than "entertainment" an the people who work there are very serious about providing quality care to animals in captivity and doing everything they can to make sure their wild cousins have safe habitats as well- and part of that comes with the need for public support. 

 

15 hours ago, Love Drought said:

Yes. It would be great if both made it. But it is a cruel world and it is what happens when Gaga refuses to release her new material, everyone goes apeshit crazy and throws their children in gorilla dens, so we should be blaming her.

 

15 hours ago, skeleton.gun said:

that's the right thing to do, we are out of options here. next step: the safety barriers should be removed, so that children could be sacrificed more easily. don't you agree?

You two are killing me :rofl:

 

2 hours ago, sarahb said:

The mother has responded: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/mum-boy-who-fell-gorilla-8080846
"The mother of the boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure has said that "accidents happen" on a Facebook post hitting out at critics." 

On another note, I used to volunteer at a zoo and the anti-zoo comments I keep seeing really bother me, I don't even know where to start.

I used to work at a zoo too and I agree. I agree animals shouldn't be kept in captivity, and there are much better ways zoos could handle things, but people seem to not understand how much good zoos actually do. 

[Illuminati 15,965]

How many animal lives is a human life worth? 

I wouldn't feel sorry for the family that had to go through this. Because of their obvious lack of responsibility their child was put in danger and an innocent animal which was probably just as stressed about whatever was going on had to be killed. If you can't do a basic task of making sure your child doesn't ****ing jump into a gorilla pen or whatever happened there then you shouldn't even be a parent to begin with like how does this even happen? 

I honestly hope they will be charged for neglection of their child and a gorilla that had to be killed otherwise this is just ridiculous.

[uo111 5,282]

Just now, BlTCH said:

How many animal lives is a human life worth? 

I wouldn't feel sorry for the family that had to go through this. Because of their obvious lack of responsibility their child was put in danger and an innocent animal which was probably just as stressed about whatever was going on had to be killed. If you can't do a basic task of making sure your child doesn't ****ing jump into a gorilla pen or whatever happened there then you shouldn't even be a parent to begin with like how does this even happen? 

I honestly hope they will be charged for neglection of their child and a gorilla that had to be killed otherwise this is just ridiculous.

If there is a number of animals worth one human life we haven't found it yet. Several hundred million animal lives lost to factory farming hasn't found that number yet, so one more animal killed in a Zoo certainly isn't going to push us over the tipping point.


Poor gorilla people say, while eating a hamburger.

[Jase 13,417]

30 minutes ago, BlTCH said:

How many animal lives is a human life worth? 

I wouldn't feel sorry for the family that had to go through this. Because of their obvious lack of responsibility their child was put in danger and an innocent animal which was probably just as stressed about whatever was going on had to be killed. If you can't do a basic task of making sure your child doesn't ****ing jump into a gorilla pen or whatever happened there then you shouldn't even be a parent to begin with like how does this even happen? 

I honestly hope they will be charged for neglection of their child and a gorilla that had to be killed otherwise this is just ridiculous.

PREACH.

I won't even bother with some of the bullshit I've read in this thread.

[RadioIsOurs 13,876]

18 hours ago, Versace said:

Not really, we're all distinct and different what if that child was

Stefani Germanotta

Exactly 

We'd all stan Kety then... 

[NNES 6,070]

free the animals! That are wild animals! Give them freedom!

[MelbHawker 6,583]

My heart breaks for the Gorilla, honestly. My heart breaks for that child as well. I've seen so many people on social media demonising the child for entering the enclosure.. I do not understand the logic behind this. He did not know what he was doing. 

The parents are to blame for this - as is the Zoo. The parents should have been watching their child. It's obvious they were ignoring/neglecting him. The Zoo should child-proof their enclosures as well though. It's upsetting and cruel that an innocent animal was put down because of this. I don't understand how Gorilla's work so I can't say if the situation was life threatening for the child or not. 

[littlepotter 76,610]

2 hours ago, ryanripley said:

i'm glad the words ryan and ripley are finally becoming fused to your minds  

Hunty I was a huge fan of yours ever since your first days on the forum

[littlepotter 76,610]

1 hour ago, skeleton.gun said:

what did they say?

as i said before, i refuse to believe that killing that poor animal was the only option. 

I mean nothing too fancy, just about the jumble of things people are saying in favor of the gorilla (maybe it was afraid of it too, maybe it was actually treating it like its own child, maybe they could have used tranquilizers) 

[Whispering 18,865]

As unfortunate as it is that this animal was killed, the zoo did What they had to do in this situation. Also, the zoo has the responsibility to make sure the enclosures are foolproof. A four year old doesn't think in a responsible manner. (they are just learning to zip their pants and most can't even tie their shoes) For preschoolers, understanding consequences of unusual situations and most actions are years away. Young children can do something completely unpredictable in a matter of seconds. The zoo bears the responsibility to make this situation impossible, for the safety of children and for the animals. 

[crisTEAne 21,059]

43 minutes ago, Whispering said:

Also, the zoo has the responsibility to make sure the enclosures are foolproof.

that's why i like you.  

[AyaKara 2,282]

It's not the kid's fault, guys -- he's 4, he's barely cognizant enough to understand the consequences of going into an animal's cage, even with the 10 foot drop.

Who should be blamed is the parents, even if the zoo wasn't following protocol of some sort. I feel bad for the gorilla as I feel strongly about animal rights, but I also feel bad for the child.

1 hour ago, MelbHawker said:

 

I've always been a fan of your posts, Melb. Thanks for posting.

[malazam 15,710]

Poor Gorilla! 

Poor child

and stupid mother/father or whoever was in charge of him

[KARMA 1,022]

I would rather be an animal than a human being

disgusting