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Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 1:33 pm
by Wesley
One quick GOOGLE search should tell you all you need to know.
A 4 year old boy got into a gorilla enclosure. Fearing for the boy's safety, they shot and killed the gorilla.
Any opinions one way or the other about this?
Re: Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 3:08 pm
by bella
It is understandable why it has been decided to shoot the animal. Finally it was a reasonable thing to do. It is sad that such a majestic animal had to be killed due to a mother who was not paying attention when she needed to. It's easy to blame her but kids can be very quick.
Of course you wonder where she was and what she did at that time. The second question is how was it possible for the little boy to fall into the moat?
It's tragic, since the gorilla didn't harm the boy. I wished there had been another possible solution.
Re: Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 10:03 pm
by LaLou
Although in general I tend to agree with Bella that the parent should have watched the child, children can be so quick to do mischief. Half a second of not paying attention is enough for them to walk off or do something they're not supposed to. On the other hand, had the parents taught the child not to climb on everything he would not have been in a position that he could have fallen down.
Re: Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 12:43 am
by Wesley
It is complicated, but I can sum up my feelings like this:
Large powerful animals are unpredictable, so in the name of safety, they had to kill the endangered gorilla. If the mother had both done a better job at home, and a better job in public, the boy would not have gotten in that situation. The mother is directly to blame for the death of the gorilla. Shame on her.
Re: Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 2:44 am
by chex
No, not shame on her. Kids are quick. shazam! happens. Katie fell off a table and got a concussion, right in front of me. I watched it happen. I was less than 20 feet away, making dinner, and I wasn't able to get to her in time. Just today, I turned away from AJ for ten seconds to clean CP's face while we were out getting ice cream at BK, and he was climbing on the windowsill. He knows not to climb there. He's given an outlet at home by climbing the door frames, but he knows not to climb at Mommy's work. Kids do shazam!, even with attentive parents who discipline them.
Re: Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 8:24 am
by LaLou
True, kids are quick, one can't rely on them even with with
attentive parents who discipline them
.
I lost one of mine once at a train station. Hubby and I were talking on where to go next, just a few seconds of not directly watching him. Luckily we found him a few hundred meters away, talking to a conductor.
And could they not have tranquilized the gorilla? Gorilla out, boy saved, gorilla waking up, everybody happy. Or was that too simple?
Re: Lowland Gorilla
Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 12:11 pm
by Wesley
Tranquilizers are not instant. The noise of the gunshot and the sudden jab of the dart could have startled the gorilla. At least that was their logic.
As far as,"kids will be kids," the enclosure was not just hopping a little fence. It was quite a challenge to get in there. Also, the zoo is not the mall. Danger everywhere, and signs that say so. Kind of like going through an airport in a foreign country.... you stay on high alert to make sure nothing bad happens.
I am fully aware that even when being attentive kids can act up or the unexpected can happen. We were 5 steps away from my nephew when the boardwalk police saw him, asked him where his family was, he looked around and did not immediately see us, so the cop took him to the waiting area 2 miles down the boardwalk on his little golf cart. If the cop had simply asked,"What are your parents' names?" then hollered, we were right there and would have heard. Instead he drove off with Ben and we spent a very tense hour putting the pieces together.
Strictly speaking, we were to blame for not having direct contact with him. Crowded boardwalk at night? Yup, totally our fault.