Dead Gorilla

[Cearbhall]

It's so funny to me that some are saying the zoo should make it so that no human could possibly get into any of the exhibits. My goodness, with that degree of barriers up, that would hardly even be a zoo. You might as well go to the IMAX and watch a documentary.

Which is probably where this child should have been.

 

[trunks2k]

It's so funny to me that some are saying the zoo should make it so that no human could possibly get into any of the exhibits. My goodness, with that degree of barriers up, that would hardly even be a zoo. You might as well go to the IMAX and watch a documentary.

I think there's reasonable middle ground "so secure no person could possibly get in" and "possible for a toddler to get into without much effort".

 

[wing2000]

I think there's reasonable middle ground "so secure no person could possibly get in" and "possible for a toddler to get into without much effort".

Yes, but do we really have to engineer zoo exhibits for that 1 child in a x million?

 

[rambot]

I think there's reasonable middle ground "so secure no person could possibly get in" and "possible for a toddler to get into without much effort".

But again....4 million PLUS people...not a single issue.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Yes, but do we really have to engineer zoo exhibits for that 1 child in a x million?

Yes

 

[aieyiamfu]

Very sad. I didn't think gorillas were usually that aggressive. At least not as savage as chimpanzees. If the boy fell into a chimp enclosure, he'd likely be torn to pieces.

The main viewing areas of the great ape house at the St. Louis Zoo are glass enclosed. These are the orangutans, and the chimp and gorilla exhibits are similar. You can get closer to the animals, with greater safety.

I used to live in Saint Louis, the kids and I loved to go to the zoo.

 

[aieyiamfu]

The gorilla wasn't harming the child.

Have you ever possibly heard of risk assessment. In this case the risk was high, and the correct course of action was followed.

 

[aieyiamfu]

My biggest concern in all this is, how would a gorilla steak (or burger) taste?

 

[rambot]

Yes

So when is a parent responsible to keep their child safe and when is it someone else's job?

 

[St_Worm2]

I've visited that exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo a number of times. It seemed very safe to me as a parent, so I had no worries when I was there with our young son, at least no worries about him being able to get into the exhibit itself. The things I worried about were 1) having him wonder off or 2) having someone kidnap him, so for those reasons my wife and I would never take our eyes off of him, but we never thought twice about him finding a way to get into the habitat itself, it seemed far to secure for that

If I had thought, for even a second, that my son (who is a climber, BTW) could have possibly done what that 3 yr old did there recently, I would have never taken him into the habitat area to begin with! So I agree with several others here, surely our zoos need to construct their exhibits in such a way that they are absolutely 3 yr old proof (and 8 yr old proof for that matter), no matter how determined they may be to get in.

--David