RIP Harambe the Gorilla

[Doc Oc]

Hope this hasn't already been discussed. Searched but didn't see anything. Been reading the story of how this gorilla was killed after an unattended child fell into his enclosure. Just wondering what others think? It appears the gorilla was actually trying to protect the child but unfortunately zoo keepers felt killing him was still the best option. Today I saw a letter from the boy's mom that just made me all that much more mad:

“I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today,” she wrote. “What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one. For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes...no broken bones or internal injuries.”

She continued, “As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today. Thank you to everyone that helped me and my son today and most importantly God for being the awsome [sic] God that He is.”

Hope this doesn't offend anyone but I'd like to tell this zealot to jump straight up her own ass. This pathetic excuse for a parent allowed her son to do something that caused this animal's death....then she has the nerve to thank god for it. Really makes me hate people.

[RickFLM4]

Honestly, once it reaches that point it's a no-win situation. A month or so ago, a zookeeper was killed locally by a tiger when the zoo used a tranquilizer instead of killing the tiger. They were also criticized. I'm not so sure the gorilla was trying to protect the kid but it seems reasonable that if they shot it with a tranquilizer it would have increased the risk of the gorilla getting agitated.

I haven't read all the details and don't know how the kid got where he was. Clearly the parents should have kept a closer eye on the kid, but shit happens and kids slip away sometimes so there need to be safeguards in place to prevent kids, idiots and suicidal people from getting that close to deadly animals. Any further details since this morning on how he got in there?

[jpdchicago]

You should not keep your eyes away for 1 second from a 4 year old. End of story. Usually more because of weirdos roaming around. Plenty of stories of pedophiles in public places...
That mother should be charged.
Even though it will never replace the poor animal, it will teach her a lesson...and reimburse the taxpayers for the cost of the first responders.

[dubsesd]

Mother is wack. I don't know how you loose sight long enough for your child to walk away and somehow climb a wall to fall into a gorilla pit. Maybe the zoo had poor fencing, i dunno but it's doubtful imo. The zoo authorities literally had no choice but to kill the poor animal. If the boy died...the liability and backlash on them would be huge

[Banana Hammock]

Originally Posted by dubsesd

Mother is wack. I don't know how you loose sight long enough for your child to walk away and somehow climb a wall to fall into a gorilla pit. Maybe the zoo had poor fencing, i dunno but it's doubtful imo. The zoo authorities literally had no choice but to kill the poor animal. If the boy died...the liability and backlash on them would be huge

Did you have a Jetta before? Grey one on DPE wheels?

[Fundguy1]

Why isn't she cursing her god for having her kid fall into the cage which caused the gorilla to be shot in the first place? One of the few times I'm agreeing with Doc fully.

[FogCityM3]

From some press reports, it sounds like the mother was watching a group of children and as a parent, I have been in situations where something distracts you and you lose sight of your kid for just a second or two, before you know it, they're somewhere else, everyone who has kids has been there, parents are human and make mistakes. We don't know how long she had her eyes off the child, whether was just a few seconds or minutes. My second question is how can a small child actually get into a gorilla exhibit in the first place...shouldn't the exhibit be as "child proof" as the animal in captivity? Finally, as someone said above, it was a no win situation and you can't ultimately predict a captive animal's behavior even if it was initially trying to "protect" the child, the press reports were saying the crowd was screaming and yelling and things could have changed dramatically. Would guess that between a human and an animal standard protocol would be for the zoo to give much greater weighting to protecting humans in an abundance of caution, where there is almost no choice to be made. One has to think about the alternative outcome.

As for the mother's statement, I would have just kept quiet personally as to not cause more controversy, but she is probably completely wound up about having potentially lost her child.

[Banana Hammock]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Why isn't she cursing her god for having her kid fall into the cage which caused the gorilla to be shot in the first place?

[Fundguy1]

Exactly

[Mandi90TT]

Charge the mother with child neglect and take her to civil court for all costs related to the incident. And I say that as a parent of two small children

[jpdchicago]

Originally Posted by duck fat

Love it!

[larryn]

Originally Posted by Doc Oc

It appears the gorilla was actually trying to protect the child but unfortunately zoo keepers felt killing him was still the best option.

Perhaps you should watch the video of the gorilla dragging the kid around extremely fast and violently by his leg. Not exactly protection mode.

I will say that it's a crappy situation. An animal kept in captivity by humans, a human who fell unwittingly into the gorilla pit, and to remedy the situation, another human kills the animal. Certainly unfair for the animal who has no choices, but certainly not worth the boy's life.

[jpdchicago]

Originally Posted by Dave 90TT

Charge the mother with child neglect and take her to civil court for all costs related to the incident. And I say that as a parent of two small children

As a parent of four grown kids I fully agree. No excuse. Sure it took more than 2 or 3 seconds for that kid to locate the fence, slip through it and walk away.
And someone said she was responsible for a group of kids?
Give me a break! Let her spend a few days in jail. Her kid won't notice she is gone anyway...

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

bout to get real extreme. but fuck that mother. gotta kill a helpless gorilla that us pathetic human creatures lock in a cage for our entertainment. and the intelligence level of 90% of america is appalling. human are sick creatures. sick.

[jpdchicago]

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

bout to get real extreme. but fuck that mother. gotta kill a helpless gorilla that us pathetic human creatures lock in a cage for our entertainment. and the intelligence level of 90% of america is appalling. human are sick creatures. sick.

Same America that got Trump to where he is today. Potential future president.
Proof that it may not be not 90% but at least 50% of it...

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Why isn't she cursing her god for having her kid fall into the cage which caused the gorilla to be shot in the first place? One of the few times I'm agreeing with Doc fully.

What's funny is that I had said something very similar to this originally but edited it out for fear of offending anyone. Blows my mind that in the face of such tragedy she's talking about how awesome god is. Oblivious! I doubt the zoo keepers who killed him as he stood with the boy between his legs feel that way.

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by larryn

Perhaps you should watch the video of the gorilla dragging the kid around extremely fast and violently by his leg. Not exactly protection mode.

I will say that it's a crappy situation. An animal kept in captivity by humans, a human who fell unwittingly into the gorilla pit, and to remedy the situation, another human kills the animal. Certainly unfair for the animal who has no choices, but certainly not worth the boy's life.

Saw the whole video....that was a little worrying but he didn't hurt the kid, which is saying a lot given their strength. Also saw him hold the boys hand and purposely get between him and the stupid people yelling and screaming above. Agree it's a bad situation....notice I didn't indict the zoo keepers....they did what they had to do. The fault lies with the mom. It's an open enclosure....no other child or adult has ever fallen into it. The mom was negligent pure and simple.

[Fundguy1]

Fault is mom number 1, zoo number 2 for making a cage accessible to a child.

[Doc Oc]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Fault is mom number 1, zoo number 2 for making a cage accessible to a child.

From what others have said the wall is only about 30" high...

[Msizzle]

though i don't agree with this lady, anyone bashing her for losing track of the kid(assuming it was quick) isn't a parent them self. My son is 6 and 1 or 2 times a 1 second distraction has caused issues with him. Thank god never major. Another time i was at a car show in nyc with my 10 year old daughter and i turned to say hi to someone and turned back and she was gone. As it turned out she kept walking with my friend but it was terrifying. Other parents feel free to post your horror stores or lets keep judging her like for 18 years you never had a lapse

[Msizzle]

I think my blame starts with the Zoo, how the hell can a 4 year old get into the cage in what i assume is a short amount of time? Not physically strong enough to break anything and probably can't climb much. Doesnt that mean the gorilla can also get out?

[Bmw_Crazy]

As long as the kids ok that's fine with me Zoo should have tranquilizer guns for shit like this so if anybody is to blame its the Zoo