Dead Gorilla

[HannahT]

So you're okay with zoo's not fully barricading dangerous animals off from the public, and you prefer there be ways that little children can fall into exhibits where gorillas can get ahold of them when their parents aren't looking.

I'm not so sure we need to take that extreme of an approach. The zoo barricaded the animals - it was the human child that entered their domain. From what I read this was the first time in over 30 years that this happened. No doubt minor adjustments will be made to try to inhibit this from happening again.

Sadly, in life you can't barricade everything all the time. Tragic things happen all the time.

 

[Landon Caeli]

If a toddler can get passed a barricade that contains a 400 lb. Gorilla, then that really says something...

 

[HannahT]

If a toddler can get passed a barricade that contains a 400 lb. Gorilla, then that really says something...

Yes, it does. You make adjustments. Then you move on.

 

[trunks2k]

If a toddler can get passed a barricade that contains a 400 lb. Gorilla, then that really says something...

I'll withhold judgement on that front. It could have easily been that the kid managed to come across a weakness in the system that reasonably went unnoticed for a long time. You can only do so much to prevent something like this from happening and can only see where a flaw is in it when someone exploits it. If that system had been keeping people out for years and years, and never had an incident that indicated a problem, I have a tough time faulting the zoo.

Now, if there had been a maintenance problem that created an exploit, or there had been a history of kids starting to get through the barrier but had been stopped before they got too far and the zoo did nothing to fix it, then that would be a different issue.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Yes, it does. You make adjustments. Then you move on.

Oh, but the parents this and the parents that... Should be using birth control now look at the poor gorilla, bla, bla, blah...

 

[HannahT]

Oh, but the parents this and the parents that... Should be using birth control now look at the poor gorilla, bla, bla, blah...

??? Huh?

 

[Landon Caeli]

Yep. I said it...

 

[trunks2k]

Yep. I said it...

Yes, you certainly said.... something....

 

[Landon Caeli]

Yes, you certainly said.... something....

Lets cut to the chase -It's already been noted in this thread that the parents have 6 children.

 

[trunks2k]

Lets cut to the chase -It's already been noted in this thread that the parents have 6 children.

................And? You said cut to the chase, but all we've seen is establishing shots of the car.

 

[Landon Caeli]

................And? You said cut to the chase, but all we've seen is establishing shots of the car.

Those who think it should just come forth and speak it.

 

[smaneck]

There's a 15 foot drop that a kid wouldn't have seen from his eye level.

Thank God, toddlers' bones bounce instead of break.

 

[trunks2k]

Those who think it should just come forth and speak it.

Think what? Speak what? I still have no idea what you are trying to say.

 

[Oafman]

I reckon, in one hundred years time, people will regard zoos as something that should never have existed.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

If a toddler can get passed a barricade that contains a 400 lb. Gorilla, then that really says something...

It says the cage was made to keep gorillas in their enclosure. Which it did just fine.

It's the parent's job to keep their kids out of the enclosures.

 

[HannahT]

Yep. I said it...

Yeah. You said it, but I don't understand the point. Whatever.

 

[Oafman]

It says the cage was made to keep gorillas in their enclosure. Which it did just fine.

It's the parent's job to keep their kids out of the enclosures.

I would have thought the zoo's responsibilities cover both of those. If you're going to invite the public somewhere, and especially if you're charging them, you have a responsibility for their safety.

 

[HannahT]

I would have thought the zoo's responsibilities cover both of those. If you're going to invite the public somewhere, and especially if you're charging them, you have a responsibility for their safety.

It's not like they had a walk way to invite them in!

 

[trunks2k]

I would have thought the zoo's responsibilities cover both of those. If you're going to invite the public somewhere, and especially if you're charging them, you have a responsibility for their safety.

Especially when you are talking about a crowd that will have a large proportion of children in which there is a good chance that some kid is going to go running off despite the efforts of whoever is watching them.

 

[trunks2k]

It's not like they had a walk way to invite them in!

No, but they should be making a reasonable effort to prevent people (especially kids) from entering the area. Now, this doesn't mean that they could possibly identify every means that a child could come up with to get in and prevent it, but when that means is shown, they should move to fix it. Kid move a trash can over to climb on it and over the fence? Make the cans harder for kids to move or raise the height of the fence.

If there was some means of entering the area that the Zoo knew or should have known about but did not address, then that would place some blame on the Zoo.