4 yr old falls into gorilla enclosure at zoo

[GEddie]

Hard to say. From the videos, this one didn’t seem aggressive, since it could have killed him if it wanted to. It basically held onto the kid for a while and walked around pulling him. The danger was more that the child would die by accident. There was one point where he was dragged by his feet with his head underwater (probably bouncing off rocks too). That could easily have been fatal.

I think the zoo made the right choice.

Even if the gorilla was only “playing,” that could easily have had life-ending consequences for the child. It’s strength was too great, and the fragility of the childhood human body too extreme.

Although powerful animal anesthetics are available, possibly the dose is too large to deliver by dart gun. The chance also existed that he could have rolled onto the child while falling asleep, i.e., the end.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Memaw]

It only takes a few seconds distraction, even for the ablest and best-intentioned parent. We are, after all, only human.

There was a recent incident in Montreal at a busy park on a national holiday; a family was gathered for a BBQ, and a man snatched a child from the family, while someone looked away for only an instant. Fortunately the father of the child realized what happened, took off after the kidnapper, restrained him, and beat him. Then the rest of the men in the area surrounded the kidnapper until the police arrived. The father said it took all he had to avoid killing the man.

I don’t know the full details of the zoo incident, but as I said only a moment’s distraction is needed for a child to get into trouble. A zoo should account for this and ensure its enclosures are child-proof.

As for the china shop, apples and oranges. A life is not at stake in that scenario.

I agree, I have taken my large family to the Zoo many times as well as 5-6 grandkids at the same time. Zoos are meant for children and should be SAFE for them at ALL times. No matter what the circumstances. First we blame the Zoo for killing the animal and now we blame the mother. Shame on us Next thing you know someone will be suggesting making the mother pay for the gorilla and his potential offspring. I am just thankful the child is safe and hopefully the Zoo and all Zoos will make sure nothing like that is ever able happen again. God Bless, Memaw

 

[Memaw]

I agree, I have taken my large family to the Zoo many times as well as 5-6 grandkids at the same time. Zoos are meant for children and should be SAFE for them at ALL times. No matter what the circumstances. First we blame the Zoo for killing the animal and now we blame the mother. Shame on us Next thing you know someone will be suggesting making the mother pay for the gorilla and his potential offspring. I am just thankful the child is safe and hopefully the Zoo and all Zoos will make sure nothing like that is ever able happen again. God Bless, Memaw

I just saw a video of that gorilla dragging that little boy all around, through water and all. It was horrifying. I’m surprised he survived it at all. He will probably have nightmares for years over this. Thank God the Zoo keepers put an end to the gorilla when they did. Prayers for the child and his family. God Bless, Memaw

 

[St_Francis]

Are there no tranquilisers in existence that could have as quickly sedated the animal as a gunshot could?

The problem is that tranquilizers are not really formulated for gorillas: we don’t do the kind of experimenting on each species that we do on humans to regulate effect and dosage, and even on humans, I imagine the effects irl vary much more than in the movies.

 

[Memaw]

I read the park has been there for 38 years and this has never happened. I bet a lot of kids have gone through in that time. The mother was doing something wrong if her child was able to get into the enclosure.

I won’t comment on killing the gorilla. If it was genuinely a risk to the child then I agree that the child comes first however I have read conflicting reports on whether it was indeed a risk. Simply been bigger than the child doesn’t show a risk. In fact, it may be the opposite. If the gorilla recognized the child as just that, he may have simply taken care of him. Apparently there have been other cases where gorillas have tended to children in their enclosures. One in 1986 in Jersey involved a male gorilla who cared for a child that fell into his enclosure and was injured.

Would you be willing to risk your 4 year old? Evidently you haven’t seen the video of the gorilla dragging that little boy all over the place at a fast pace, even through water. For all that gorilla knew the child could have hit his head or swallowed enough water to drowned God Bless, Memaw

 

[Vanny]

It’s a shame the animal was killed, but that outcome is preferable to a living gorilla and a dead child. Only seconds likely separated one outcome from the other. At least the human life was prioritized.

ICXC NIKA

Agree with this… Of course the child’s life takes priority, but as others have posted below, there are some that think the reverse. Very sad.
I’ve seen some ugly comments to this effect.

 

[Vanny]

“…they felt the need…”?
I could not believe the comments on the internet about how the killing of the gorilla is almost as great a tragedy as the (potential) death or serious injury of the child.

I was shocked the zoo personnel waited 10 minutes before resorting to deadly force.
If they could not get the child away right away, that should have been the next step.

Seen some of those comments myself. I mean, yes it’s sad the Gorilla is killed and I don’t know the circumstances as to how the child fell in there, but to me it’s a no-brainer. The child comes first!! Even if the mother was totally negligent, the child’s life comes first!
But yes, I’ve seen comments that have placed the Gorilla’s life above the boys and are calling to reveal the name of the mother.

 

[Kaninchen]

It only takes a few seconds distraction, even for the ablest and best-intentioned parent. We are, after all, only human.

Indeed we are but one should be cautious about the circumstances where such distraction might take place - while moments of distraction in one’s back garden might be lethal, moments of distraction on a cliffside . . . .

 

[Vanny]

Yes I agree, a zoo should either insure it’s enclosures are childproof, or failing that not allow people under “X” years of age into an exhibit.

 

[Theo520]

cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/28/police-child-taken-hospital-after-falling-into-gorilla-pen/85095094/

This was at the zoo by my house, it seems everyone is blaming the mother for not watching what her son was doing better, plus for not jumping in after him. It doesnt look like the gorilla was going to harm him, just tossed him around a little bit.

It is a shame they felt the need to kill the gorilla though, a lot of people are upset about this.

They should loan/rent these at the Zoo entrance.
The Zoo must be fascinating to a child and parents are also easily distracted

https://ahmongwoman.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/leash.jpg

 

[GEddie]

The problem is that tranquilizers are not really formulated for gorillas: we don’t do the kind of experimenting on each species that we do on humans to regulate effect and dosage, and even on humans, I imagine the effects irl vary much more than in the movies.

They do, which is why all the horror stories of folks waking up in surgery.

ICXC NIKA

 

[mikekle]

yes, if there is any security video that shows how the boy ended up in the moat. if not, they need to bring the boy back and have him explain how he did it so they can remedy the problem and check all other exhibits. this kid must have really been hot to want to get into that water.

The Cincy zoo has cameras everywhere, I bet they started looking over them right after this happened.

The mother did say before they went, the kid told her he wanted to get in and be with the monkeys, but I doubt she took him that seriously.

I wish someone had the video of the gorilla climbing out of the moat with the child in tow, Id love to know how he did this, those moat walls are straight vertical, and smooth, Im not sure if gorillas can jump that high or not…?

Since this is so close to me, Im really amazed nearly everyone is more concerned with the shooting of the gorilla, Ive only seen a few comments favoring the kids life, but as a friend said, if that gorilla had killed the kid for all to see, the zoo would probably be shut down for good.

 

[Memaw]

The Cincy zoo has cameras everywhere, I bet they started looking over them right after this happened.

The mother did say before they went, the kid told her he wanted to get in and be with the monkeys, but I doubt she took him that seriously.

I wish someone had the video of the gorilla climbing out of the moat with the child in tow, Id love to know how he did this, those moat walls are straight vertical, and smooth, Im not sure if gorillas can jump that high or not…?

Since this is so close to me, Im really amazed nearly everyone is more concerned with the shooting of the gorilla, Ive only seen a few comments favoring the kids life, but as a friend said, if that gorilla had killed the kid for all to see, the zoo would probably be shut down for good.

And they would still have had to put the gorilla down, God Bless, Memaw

 

[Catholic_farmer]

I read a good article that had other incidents of children falling in to gorilla enclosures over the past thirty years. The difference in those case was one male gorilla rubbed the child’s back and then spooked and ran off when the child hollered. The other case was a female gorilla that cuddled the child and protected him (along with her own infant). Clearly, these cases were different than a seemingly innocent gesture in this case (the gorilla standing the child up and pulling his pants up) followed by dragging him through the water and standing over him. There is not much good that can happen once a gorilla stands over another living being. That is usually the stance just prior to beating the other creature with their fists. Not many adults could survive more than one or two blows from a full grown silver back gorilla, let alone a small child. I trust the keepers read the gorilla’s body language and knew what was likely to happen next.

It is sad that a rare and intelligent gorilla was killed, but it should not slow down the breeding program of captive gorillas. Artificial insemination is used so often in rare and endangered species that there is not much natural breeding going on in zoos. There are procedures to collect and preserve the semen from this gorilla after his death. I’m certain that was done, if his genetics are vital to the breeding program.

The mother was probably terrified and embarrassed about this incident. While it’s easy to blame her, a four year old with an agenda can be surprisingly fast.

 

[meltzerboy]

This may be the child’s earliest memory since he does not appear to have been traumatized by the incident. What a great story to tell his children and grandchildren! Just be sure to keep some of the videos so others can believe him.

 

[grotto]

What a terrifying ordeal for this little child - thanks to God he was saved. The gorilla was a price that had to be paid. The child wasn’t responsible and neither was the gorilla.

 

[SilverLight]

What I want to know is what will be done with the parents who allowed this to happen?

At least make sure someone checks in on them to make sure the child is safe. I don’t know a single parent that would let something like that happen to their child ever. I know I was watched like a hawk when I was that age.

 

[CradleJourney]

I agree, I have taken my large family to the Zoo many times as well as 5-6 grandkids at the same time. Zoos are meant for children and should be SAFE for them at ALL times. No matter what the circumstances. First we blame the Zoo for killing the animal and now we blame the mother. Shame on us Next thing you know someone will be suggesting making the mother pay for the gorilla and his potential offspring. I am just thankful the child is safe and hopefully the Zoo and all Zoos will make sure nothing like that is ever able happen again. God Bless, Memaw

NO place is safe for children at all times, and especially not under all circumstances.

I don’t know how the child got in there.

I don’t know what the parent did/did not do.

What I DO know is that as a parent you have to be on top of your children at all times (and yes, I’ve had 3 under the age of 5 with me and been pregnant with a fourth and gone on outings). Once they knew how to walk they were taught they ALWAYS had to have one hand on me or the stroller/cart … and I enforced that rule. Left numerous places, caused much wailing because if they did not follow the rule, we left. They learned (a couple kids took an awfully long time, but I out stubborned them).

Unfortunately, this kind of taught behavior does not seem to be the norm (though it was for my mom who I learned it from). Instead I see mom’s with small kids running off here and there with mom (or dad) then chasing, calling, bribing, etc. to get them back.

I’m not entirely blaming the parent - but I do blame a culture that assumes places can/must be “safe”. A home is not safe. A park is not safe. Zoos and museums are not safe. Active vigilance and monitoring is required - and accidents happen. This is just a part of life we’ve forgotten - and instead seem to feel there’s some magic way of making everything safe all the time - and since it usually is, parents get complacent and when an accident does occur everyone thinks someone (in this case parent / zoo) must be to blame and somehow one or both should have prevented something that hadn’t ever occurred before for either of them. It could have been prevented and steps should be taken for the future to make things “safer” - by both parties. But hindsight is 20/20.

And maybe, perhaps, parents/grandparents will put forth the effort to reduce future accidents with their own children by stopping being so lenient on their roamings.

 

[Tablefor9]

What I want to know is what will be done with the parents who allowed this to happen?

At least make sure someone checks in on them to make sure the child is safe. I don’t know a single parent that would let something like that happen to their child ever. I know I was watched like a hawk when I was that age.

Never had a four year old of your own, I’m thinking.

Anyway. There probably will be a department of families investigation, complete with surprise visits, family interviews, possible drug screening, pediatric visit reviews, etc.

 

[SilverLight]

Never had a four year old of your own, I’m thinking.

Anyway. There probably will be a department of families investigation, complete with surprise visits, family interviews, possible drug screening, pediatric visit reviews, etc.

I’m 24 you honestly could not pay me to have kids right now and possibly ever I know what kids can be like though but still there is no excuse when an incident like this happens. If I was that parent I would feel I was at fault.