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Cincinnati Zoo kills gorilla after 4-year-old climbs into his pen

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by franticscribe, May 29, 2016.

  1. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    :D
     
  2. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    I hate that the gorilla had to die, I hate that the kid got into the enclosure. But I really hate to think of the nightmares this kid is going to have the rest of his life.

    The gorilla did what gorillas do. Almost seemed like he was playing with the kid at times.

    I guess the one question I would ask is why they couldn't put the gorilla down temporarily with tranquilizers rather than permanently with bullets?
     
  3. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    Tranquilizer wouldn't work right away. Also would likely piss off the gorilla.
     
  4. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    Guess the tranquilizers probably do not work quick enough, wouldn't take long for a gorilla to seriously injure or kill a 4-year old kid.
     
  5. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    People like their monkeys. Just look at DC. Full of them!
     
    old_tony likes this.
  6. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Here's my hope - the kid is young enough to think the gorilla was protecting him and being his friend. My 4-year old thinks every animal is attacking her and doesn't realize a dog is being friendly. I know this is completely different, but hopefully they can sell the kid on it and it won't mess him up too bad.

    As for the tranquilizers, a college acquaintance who works at a major metro zoo posted about it on her personal Facebook and said the risk was too high to use tranquilizers. If they didn't immediately work, the kid is dead. Lethal force was the best option. A couple people posted the "why did they harm him when someone intruded on his habitat" and she quickly responded "because the safety of a person has to come first."
     
    franticscribe and old_tony like this.
  7. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    The kid almost died doing something he loved. Dead gorilla, film at 11!
     
    HanSenSE and cjericho like this.
  8. Tweener

    Tweener Well-Known Member

    As pissed as I am that the gorilla had to die because the parents weren't watching thier kid closely, I've softened my vitriol after internalizing the entirety of the situation.

    I can't imagine the parents wanting their kid in a circumstance like that, and probably never thought the kid could actually get into the habitat. They were negligent, but it could have been for just a matter of seconds, and unfortunately sometimes that happens.

    Still, I think the Internet shaming has been incredibly over the top. People are spouting crap without facts, or any idea how quickly a 4-year-old can get into a sticky situation.
     
  9. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    I'd like to see a photo of how the kid got into the enclosure. Was there a hole in a fence?
     
  10. Smash Williams

    Smash Williams Well-Known Member

    This is from another message board (so take it as you will), but apparently the kid went under a pair of fences and down a wall into the moat that surrounds the enclosure. The enclosure has been there for 30+ years with similar barricades.

    FWIW, I hold the parents mostly responsible, but I don't have a huge amount of vitrol toward them. It appears to be one of those really unfortunate accidents that sometimes happens because we can't child and/or idiot-proof the entire world. Wasn't there a relatively similar incident at a stadium a few years back (I want to say and NBA game) where a kid climbed the glass in a luxury suite and fell over the edge, either dying or getting seriously injured? I seem to remember discussing that here and feeling the same way about that.

    ETA: Found it. Toddler fell to his death at the Staples Center in 2010: Toddler falls to death at Lakers game
     
  11. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Only one nation under god is.
     
  12. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

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