Cincy Zoo kills critically endangered gorilla to save boy

[Theodarzna]

She could have taken him seriously, and she should have been paying attention to him at all times.

I'm not saying the child should be taken away or that she should have to pay horrible fines, simply that she should be held accountable for what happened.

Could have, would have, should have.

She had several kids to look after and to be honest its a bit "Captain Hindsight," of us to point out all the things she magically SHOULD have done. Ideally the Zoo's Gorilla pen shouldn't be so easy to get into that they depend on parents watching every single second of their kids and keeping them on a leash just to prevent them from falling in.

Her kid asked a ridiculous question, the sort of dumb questions kids always ask and parents say no to. Yes, if only she was psychic and took THIS specific request seriously, OH IF ONLY!

Thanks Captain Hindsight.

[therealbowser]

Thanks Captain Hindsight.

I was going to agree with your comment that the Zoo should have made it harder to get into the enclosure, but after this comment I lost interest. When you decide to grow up and learn how to hold a conversation without petty insults and snide remarks, let me know, and maybe we can have a mature discussion about potentially interesting topics.

[Ragedaug]

IMO, the gunshot was as risky as the tranq (if not moreso).

- If the gun's sights were bumped, maybe the bullet hits the kid instead
- There's no guarantee that the gorilla will be dead after the first bullet, which would likely enrage the gorilla more than the dart.
- The bullet could have ricocheted and hit the boy.
- The corpse of the 400lb gorilla may have fallen on the boy


Because it looked like the gorilla was trying to protect the boy and hadn't hurt him in 10 minutes they were together tells me it would have been less risk to try the tranq.

[TirielWoW]

IMO, the gunshot was as risky as the tranq (if not moreso).

- If the gun's sights were bumped, maybe the bullet hits the kid instead
- There's no guarantee that the gorilla will be dead after the first bullet, which would likely enrage the gorilla more than the dart.
- The bullet could have ricocheted and hit the boy.
- The corpse of the 400lb gorilla may have fallen on the boy


Because it looked like the gorilla was trying to protect the boy and hadn't hurt him in 10 minutes they were together tells me it would have been less risk to try the tranq.

You need to watch the video that shows him actually dragging and throwing the boy. He was not being gentle. Most of the videos available have had the violent portions cut out of them. What the gorilla was doing probably wouldn't have harmed a baby gorilla, but human toddlers are a lot more delicate than other baby primates. He was extremely agitated thanks to the crowd of essentially howling people gawking and taking cellphone videos and selfies.

[Jason brookside]

No matter what any liberals tell you animals will never be more important than human lives so get over it and grow up

[Otaka]

Dogs are overrated. They like everything and everyone that feeds them and doesn't hit them. Sure, a lonely person might feel better when a dog likes them but in reality that 'love' is worth nothing. It's like having an npc friend in a video game.

Just like a human kid then...

[Deleted]

I'll be honest with you, I didin't read the previous posts, that said i do find the topic interessting. If we follow Darwins Survival of the Fittest, yeah, IN THEORY, the gorilla shouldve been killed to save the human. There are a few othe factors, the gorilla was 17 years old, which is about half way trough its life-span (An avarage of 35-40 years). And the kid was...well a kid.
Heres where it gets interessting, waht if it wasnt a child, but a grown ass adult. In my opinion, leave him on his own. He was dumb enough to go in.

[HammondQ]

Could have, would have, should have.

She had several kids to look after and to be honest its a bit "Captain Hindsight," of us to point out all the things she magically SHOULD have done. Ideally the Zoo's Gorilla pen shouldn't be so easy to get into that they depend on parents watching every single second of their kids and keeping them on a leash just to prevent them from falling in.

Her kid asked a ridiculous question, the sort of dumb questions kids always ask and parents say no to. Yes, if only she was psychic and took THIS specific request seriously, OH IF ONLY!

Thanks Captain Hindsight.

When your 3 year old says "I want to jump into the gorilla enclosure" that is literally only feet away should be taken as seriously as:

"I want to play with that loaded revolver."
"I wan't to play with that rattlesnake"
"I want to jump over the rail of the cruise ship."
"I want to unbuckle my car seat jump out of the car window at 70 MPH."
"I want to go swim in the canal behind our house."

You don't turn your back and wait and see what happens when your kid says something like that.

"He said he was going to run across the freeway, but I didn't think he was really gonna do it, so I turned my back and figured he was safe" is a shitty excuse that makes you a shitty parent.

[enak101]

Would be a better result than what happened.

Gorilla life > human life isn't a good viewpoint to have. It sucks that they are an endangered species but its just not fair to risk the humans life, not fair to the human, which is what we care about.

I'd like to see all these "any animal life is more valuable than a human life" not defend themselves when its them or a family member getting mauled by some animal.

[HammondQ]

No matter what any liberals tell you animals will never be more important than human lives so get over it and grow up

Eh yes and no.

Most people would agree that a human life is worth more than that of a chicken or a rat.

If a bunch of asshole poachers get together and decide to try and kill every last Rhino on Earth for some quick coin, those guys need to be shot on sight.

To cause an extinction of an animal like the Rhinoceros is to rob billions of humans and billions of future humans of that animal. It is a crime against humanity.

[Irian]

It's sad and really sucks but it had to be done.

If you can't understand why a 4 year old child's life is more important than an endangered gorilla then you need a bit more human empathy. Don't get me wrong, I like animals and it really kind of bums me out to read that article, but I would've done the exact same thing if I worked at that zoo. There's no question here; something had to be done about the gorilla and I think they did the unfortunate yet most safe thing they could.

I think it also needs to be pointed out to people who have said stupid shit like "it was the boy's fault"; gorillas are not a creature shown in child media to be aggressive, and are in fact always portrayed to be friendly and likable. Is this the child's fault that in his very small, undeveloped mind, he saw a creature portrayed as harmless and friendly and thought it was harmless and friendly?

We could argue so many semantics and details here that don't matter at all, like how the parents should have been far more careful, or the zoo should have been more thorough with its enclosure, or that Harambe should have been attempted to be tranqed first (which, as someone who has seen the effect of tranq darts and also knows how horrific an enraged male gorilla is, I strongly disagree...seriously guys, basic research) but none of that was relevant in the in-the-moment situation. The gorilla had a small child hostage and it would have been wrong, regardless of whether the gorilla was as common as an ant or the last of its species on earth, to not use whatever was necessary to stop it.

Live in reality, guys. A middle-aged gorilla's life is not worth watching a human child die. Playing the blame game doesn't change that, and the zoo did what they should have done.

[Rezhka]

Poor Gorilla. I wish that kid learn a big lesson from this. Harambe's blood is on his hands.

[evilcast]

Such a shame, anyone who falls into an animal enclosure should be fair game not like we're critically endangered.

Unless it's one of your family members of course...

[Celista]

Unless it's one of your family members of course...

We used to keep humans in zoos. The last exhibit was in Belgium, during the 1950s.

We had a human pygmy kept in the Bronx Zoo in the US a little over a century ago.

http://www.theplaidzebra.com/human-z...ets-ended-50s/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_zoo

[Deleted]

Just like a human kid then...

Mostly true. Human kids however advance beyond that level quite quickly.

[Kezotar]

You're right. It was natural selection when the idiot boy fell into the exhibit. However, unnatural means ensured his survival. Which is sad. The Gorilla was far, FAR more important.

When the idiot boy? Well, it's a kid. What do you expect? Should we just let kids grow up in the wild without their parents? I'm sure you'd do so good in that.
Shesh.

- - - Updated - - -

Damn, we love to select what we should keep alive in this world.
Gorillas? Keep them.
Filthy insects such as wasps? KILL THEM:
Cows? Aww, beef.
Pigs? Bacon <3

Gorillas? OH NO DON'T TOUCH THEM, THEY'RE SACRED - ENDANGERED.
While I do agree we have to take care out of endangered animals, they are becoming extinct for two reasons. "Poachers". Or because they no longer serve a purpose.

The right thing was done here. The Zoo is at fault, they should've closed the area better, and the parents shouldn't have let their kid walk alone. The Animal took the consequences. It's not the fair thing, but humans are more valuable to humans.

- - - Updated - - -

Poor Gorilla. I wish that kid learn a big lesson from this. Harambe's blood is on his hands.

"Kid."

"Blood on his hands."

Good you don't teach kids at school anything. The Zoo is at fault and the parents are at fault. The kid is a kid.

[TirielWoW]

Poor Gorilla. I wish that kid learn a big lesson from this. Harambe's blood is on his hands.

He's four years old. He doesn't have blood on his hands. He's a four year old. He is not responsible for his actions.

[Theodarzna]

When your 3 year old says "I want to jump into the gorilla enclosure" that is literally only feet away should be taken as seriously as:

"I want to play with that loaded revolver."
"I wan't to play with that rattlesnake"
"I want to jump over the rail of the cruise ship."
"I want to unbuckle my car seat jump out of the car window at 70 MPH."
"I want to go swim in the canal behind our house."

You don't turn your back and wait and see what happens when your kid says something like that.

"He said he was going to run across the freeway, but I didn't think he was really gonna do it, so I turned my back and figured he was safe" is a shitty excuse that makes you a shitty parent.

A gun, a rattlesnake, are all obvious dangers not enclosed in something that a company built with tourists in mind.

Now if my kid wanted to get at a loaded revolver locked behind a glass case in a museum and then somehow after I rolled my eyes and said no and he got ahold of it anyhow? That's on the museum.

If I go to a zoo with kids, or the elderly, I somewhat expect they have ensured this place is secure and reasonably safe for the public. Considering it took the kid about 3 seconds to get in there, I suspect they were a bit to dependent on the public to be their safety measures.

[imabanana]

Gorilla life > human life isn't a good viewpoint to have. It sucks that they are an endangered species but its just not fair to risk the humans life, not fair to the human, which is what we care about.

Why not? We're already way too many, and it was just a child. I don't put human life over any kind of shit we do, that's what I find a terrible viewpoint to have.

I'd like to see all these "any animal life is more valuable than a human life" not defend themselves when its them or a family member getting mauled by some animal.

I'd never say "any animal life" though, far from it, I have zero issue with slaughtering millions of random animals we breed for example.

[Captnrex]

When the idiot boy? Well, it's a kid. What do you expect? Should we just let kids grow up in the wild without their parents? I'm sure you'd do so good in that.
Shesh.

- - - Updated - - -

Damn, we love to select what we should keep alive in this world.
Gorillas? Keep them.
Filthy insects such as wasps? KILL THEM:
Cows? Aww, beef.
Pigs? Bacon <3

Gorillas? OH NO DON'T TOUCH THEM, THEY'RE SACRED - ENDANGERED.
While I do agree we have to take care out of endangered animals, they are becoming extinct for two reasons. "Poachers". Or because they no longer serve a purpose.

The right thing was done here. The Zoo is at fault, they should've closed the area better, and the parents shouldn't have let their kid walk alone. The Animal took the consequences. It's not the fair thing, but humans are more valuable to humans.

- - - Updated - - -



"Kid."

"Blood on his hands."

Good you don't teach kids at school anything. The Zoo is at fault and the parents are at fault. The kid is a kid.

When the zoo has had NO problems for the past 30+ years, it's not just a "kid being a kid" , fuck, the kids I've ever met aren't as stupid as this kid was.

The reason why everyone so mad the gorilla died over The animals you listed is because IT'S FUCKING ENDANGERED SPECIES. Jeez I fear for the animal kingdom with people like half of you would be willing to pick the human even if the animal was say the last male of its kind.