Harambe the Gorila

The zoo staff were between a rock and a hard place. Damned if they shot the gorilla but I suspect even more damned if they didn't and an innocent child was hurt. Blame should be with parents for not looking after child and zoo for seemingly having inadequate fencing.

vickimac:thank you for that post which make more sense of what happened. Let's hope that lessons have been learned and nothing like this happens again.

I agree the zoo had no choice- but how tragic and sad.

Nonnie, the first line of your post said: the Zoo is 100% accountable for this - and this is what I was replying to.

Hate Zoos. They shouldn't exist. Harambe should not have been in such a place. Zoo should be closed and the animals should be rehoused away from gawping crowds. A mighty cock-up by everyone and a beautiful creature paid with his life.

There should be no Zoo in any country, such pretence that they are there for the animals not for people to pay and watch a wild animal in captivity

Without the screaming crowd the gorilla might have been able to work out that the child was no threat but just needed looking after. Apparently the boy in the Jersey incident has said that he remembers it all being very quiet. Perhaps that made the difference. I think Amanda is probably right and there was nothing else they could do, but it should never have happened in the first place. As it is the zoo has lost a beautiful and very valuable animal and the whole dynamic of the gorilla group has been damaged.

What would have happened if that child had been killed or seriously injured? - the zoo had no choice but to kill the animal. But it also had a responsibility to ensure that no-one can get into the animal enclosures. I am not surprised that prosecution is being suggested.

I too think the zoo had no choice - it would have been terrible if the little boy had been severely injured or killed. From the footage I saw, the gorilla - maybe not intentionally - was rough with the child and dragged him through water. It was also said that the child was taken to hospital afterwards for treatment for minor injuries.

I can think of a number of occasions on which I have lost sight of my children or grandchildren. Perhaps that makes me a bad mother/grandparent but I would guess I'm not alone.

I think it's the responsibility of a zoo to ensure that enclosures are absolutely secure. I don't think any parent would imagine it was possible that a child could access a potentially dangerous animal's enclosure.

Although in the past I used to enjoy going to zoos and taking the children there, I feel a bit differently now. I tend to agree with the view that it would be far better if these animals were free rather than enduring relatively safe but highly unnatural lives of what to us would be the equivalent of lifelong "house arrest".

I agree too that the zoo had no choice but to shoot the poor animal. But there should have been better security. It was a long way to fall.
When I was teaching I once took my class to London Zoo and before leaving noticed that one girl was missing . I eventually found her in the primate section, TG, but in those days they were behind glass ( I think.) Lately there's been a trend to give the animals a more natural habitat.

I would like to see photos or a plan of the area and how the little one managed to get through so easily, without being noticed.

We all know as parents and grand-parents how quickly things can happen with toddlers- however we normally make sure we anticipate trouble. There are places where you just don't let go- ever, never.

Talking about negligence and prosecuting parents- not sure it would help, really? Last year here we had a tragedy I still can't understand. A father from nearby France, working over the border, was supposed to drop the 1 year old baby at the nursery on his way. The child fell asleep in his seat- and as he was stressed due to work deadlines, he forgot all about the baby- who was left in the car in the car park all day- and died. The father was incredibly not prosecuted- as it was said he had suffered enough. I can understand, perhaps, forgetting about the child for a few minutes or 1 hour or so- but surely at some point you'd jump and think 'OMG - I've forgotten little one' - but apparently he totally forgot till the evening. Did no-one hear or see the child??? Did they walk away thinking it was none of their business and shouldn't get involved- I still can't get over it (and wouldn't like to have to live with theri conscience) (: so tragic.

Grandjura, that sort of incident is a well-known phenomenon within psychology. If it wasn't the father's normal duty to take the child to nursery, then he wouldn't have had the usual triggers to remember that he hadn't dropped off the baby at nursery. It's all to do with routines. Maybe nurseries should have some sort of system to alert parents if a child doesn't arrive? I would get a text message within an hour of school starting if my Dd wasn't at her register class, so it can be done.

I agree that sadly there was no choice about the gorilla. Whilst at that point the boy wasn't too badly injured, a male gorilla will kill any young he considers are not his own and there may have come a point when that's what he did.

Blaming the parents is ridiculous. It takes just a moment for an accident to happen - one of my grandsons fell out of his cot whilst his mother was right by him in the room! Fortunately he was fine but these things happen in a flash.

SueD- in this tragic case, the father did routinely take the child to nursery.

As said, yes things can happena nd go wrong very quickly- but your own lounge is not quite the same, re vigilance, as a zoo with dangerous animals, or a mountain environment, etc, surely.

The father was incredibly not prosecuted

Granjura what would you have charged the hapless French father with, and for what purpose?

Unless there was a history of neglect, substance abuse, etc., I can't understand why you would want the father prosecuted.

That is unusual then, Grandjura. It's generally the parent who is out of routine that it tragically happens with. Sending them to prison won't make them feel any worse than they do already and it would hardly be a deterrent as it's not something anyone sets out to do.

Re one's own lounge v a zoo, yes, you'll normally be more vigilant in an unfamiliar area but I don't think it would ever really cross my mind that it was possible to get into an animal enclosure! Getting lost amongst the crowds or getting in other people's way would be at the for front of my mind, I think.

My ds1 spent half his childhood in A&E. I don't think it was all my fault as none of my other three matched his record, plus he's continued to have daft accidents into his 40's!