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4-Year Old Crawls Into Gorilla Habitat, Gorilla Shot Dead


vibranium

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Devastated. Heartbroken. In mourning.

 
Those are some of the words the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden used Sunday in a contrite explanation for the death of Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla killed on Saturday to save a boy who slipped into the zoo's habitat.
 
The boy was in "imminent danger," leaving the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team with no option but to shoot the 450-pound gorilla, zoo director Thane Maynard said in a statement on Facebook. Tranquilizers may not have taken effect in time to save the boy while the dart might have agitated the animal, worsening the situation, Maynard said.
 
"We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child's life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made," he said.
 
The words did little to assuage an angry chorus of critics who believed the gorilla's death was unnecessary. Many blamed the boy's mother for failing to look after her son. Neither the boy nor his family have been identified. Some even suggested the boy's parents should be held criminally responsible for the incident. An online petition seeking "justice for Harambe" through criminal charges earned more than 8,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.
     
    Others criticized the zoo for responding with what they felt was excessive force. Demonstrators gathered outside the zoo on Sunday calling for a boycott.
    "In mourning? You all killed him for protecting a child [whose] parents couldn't contain their own children!!" said one commenter on the zoo's Facebook page.
     
    The boy, 4, was released unhurt from a Cincinnati hospital Saturday and the zoo opened on Sunday. Gorilla World, home to nine western lowland gorillas, was closed.
     
    The incident drew widespread attention as dramatic video spread across the Internet showing Harambe dragging the boy like a rag doll through the water across the habitat.
     
    The boy climbed through a barrier and fell some 15 feet to a shallow moat in Harambe's enclosure, Maynard said.
     
    Kimberly Ann Perkins O'Connor, who captured some of the incident on her phone, told CNN she overheard the boy joking to his mother about going into the water.
     
    Suddenly, a splash drew the crowd's attention to the boy in the water. The crowd started screaming, drawing Harambe's attention to the boy, O'Connor said.
     
    At first, it looked like Harambe was trying to help the boy, O'Connor said. He stood him up and pulled up his pants.
     
    As the crowd's clamors grew, Harambe tossed the boy into a corner of the moat, O'Connor said, which is when she started filming. Harambe went over to the corner and shielded the boy with his body as the boy's mother yelled "Mommy's right here."
     
    The crowd's cries appeared to agitate Harambe anew, O'Connor said, and the video shows him grabbing the boy by the foot. He dragged him through the water and out of the moat atop the habitat, O'Connor said.
     
    By that point, "It was not a good scene," she said. When the boy tried to back away the gorilla "aggressively" pulled him back into his body "and really wasn't going to let him get away," she said.
     
    O'Connor left before the shooting. When asked if the barrier could be easily penetrated by a child, she said it would take some effort.
     
    "Unfortunately, it was a bad situation where a 4-year-old didn't have the attention of his mother for seconds," she said. "I don't think it was as easy as standing up and falling in. He actually had to climb under something, through some bushes and then into the moat."
     
     
     
     
     
     
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    The tranquilizer darts would have taken 10 minutes to act. For a big animal like that, nothing faster is available.

     

    Before going to sleep, the gorilla would have become agitated and confused.

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    Innocent animals have no chance in situations like this.  

    They usually pay the highest price for human recklessness and mistakes.  

    Pity.    :( :angry:

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    The funny thing is that some people think an animal's life is worthier than human's. no matter whose mistake was it that the child got into that cage but the situation happened and the best decision was made. something is really wrong with some people.. pity pity :/ 

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    23 minutes ago, saeed_dc said:

    The funny thing is that some people think an animal's life is worthier than human's. no matter whose mistake was it that the child got into that cage but the situation happened and the best decision was made. something is really wrong with some people.. pity pity :/ 

     

    @saeed_dc  Please note, that  I NEVER told  the decision to shoot the gorilla was NOT RIGHT.   

    In fact I told NOTHING about this particular incident.

     

    BTW

    Quote

    Me fail English? That’s unpossible

     

    Turns out IT IS possible.

    Please, make sure you properly understand what you've read, BEFORE you start commenting.   :P

     

     

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    First of all, it's necessary to point out: no life is more valuable than another.
    After that, things like this happen primarily because we, humans, put ourselves above the other species, stealing their freedom and depriving them of their habitat, with our tiny desire to "admire them" from our windows...
    Finally, as I usually say: "if you want to destroy something, tell us!"
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    Ballistic Gelatin

    And where was his mom? Probably glued to her smartphone. They should have thrown her to the lions.

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    ANOTHER REPORT'S PERSPECTIVE

     

     

     

    Visitors to the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo were screaming.

     

    Somehow, a 4-year-old boy had slipped through the exhibit's barrier on Saturday afternoon and was now being dragged around like a toy by a hulking silverback gorilla.

    In videos of the encounter posted to Twitter, a woman can be heard calling to the sobbing child: "Mommy loves you! I'm right here!"
     
    After about 10 excruciating minutes, witnesses said, zoo workers shot and killed the animal, named Harambe. The boy, who was hurt but not severely, was taken to a hospital, zoo officials said.

     

    "It was pure panic," said Brittany Nicely, 29, who was there with her two children.

     

    Ms. Nicely said that out of the corner of her eye she spotted the boy on the wrong side of wooden and wire barriers along the edge of the enclosure. She reached for him, she said, but not in time, and he fell about 10 feet into a shallow moat.


    Harambe, a teenage western lowland gorilla, then grabbed the child, but his intentions were not clear. At times, he stood over the boy in what appeared to be a protective posture. But then he darted across the water, dragging the child roughly by the arm.

     

    "He wasn't throwing him around," Ms. Nicely said. "He wasn't mauling him to death, which is what I thought was going to happen."


    The gorilla could have easily crushed the boy at any moment, however, if only by carelessness, she said.

     

    The zoo said in a statement that the use of lethal force had been a difficult decision. A tranquilizer would have taken several minutes to neutralize the animal, prolonging the risk.

     

    "The zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life," the zoo's director, Thane Maynard, said. "We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically endangered gorilla. This is a huge loss for the zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide."

     

    The breach raised concerns about the apparent ease with which the boy was able to get into the arms of such a powerful animal. Mr. Maynard did not return messages seeking additional comment.

     

    It also led several people on social media to question the mother's culpability, but Ms. Nicely said it would be unfair to judge the mother too harshly.

     

    "I don't feel like it was neglectful," she said. "She had three other kids that she was with. She had a baby in her arms. It was literally the blink of an eye."

     

    She added: "I saw it, and I couldn't even prevent it. It happened so fast."

     

    Western lowland gorillas are preyed upon by disease and poachers, with fewer than 175,000 left in the wild in Africa, according to the zoo. The zoo described Harambe, who was born in captivity, as an intelligent and curious animal who was on his way to becoming a group leader. On Friday, the zoo celebrated his 17th birthday.

     

     

    ARTICLE SOURCE

     

     

     

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    5 hours ago, mona said:

     

    @saeed_dc  Please note, that  I NEVER told  the decision to shoot the gorilla was NOT RIGHT.   

    In fact I told NOTHING about this particular incident.

     

    BTW

     

    Turns out IT IS possible.

    Please, make sure you properly understand what you've read, BEFORE you start commenting.   :P

     

     

     

    @mona

    I understood perfectly. why you think everybody is talking about you? lol I was referring to those who went crazy about that matter. read some news ;) 

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    5 hours ago, Ballistic Gelatin said:

    And where was his mom?

    Probably glued to her smartphone.

    Silly "mom"...

    5 hours ago, Ballistic Gelatin said:

    They should have thrown her to the lions.

    No, because they would have to kill the lions, too.

    As the did to the unfortunate gorilla...

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    Akaneharuka

    I love this phase XD

     

    Quote

    "In mourning? You all killed him for protecting a child [whose] parents couldn't contain their own children!!" said one commenter on the zoo's Facebook page.

     

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    You bring a gorilla 1000 s of KMs from the jungles of Africa, you put it in a cage and some one goes near it despite all the fencing etc and in the end you shoot the gorilla. What did the gorilla do here, every act was done by the humans. Really shamefull. There are more humans in that city than the total number of gorillas, still a human's life is considered more valuable. 
     

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