Posted on 05/28/2016 4:42:31 PM PDT by xzins
CINCINNATI – A gorilla was killed after it dragged a 3-year-old boy that fell into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Saturday, Zoo Director Thane Maynard said.
The boy was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.
Police and EMTs were called to the zoo at about 4 p.m. for reports that a gorilla was "slamming the child into the wall."
Maynard said the boy crawled through a barrier and landed in the moat. He was walking and splashing. Harambe, a 17-year-old male gorilla weighing more than 400 pounds, picked up the boy, Maynard said. Witnesses said the gorilla grabbed and dragged the screaming boy around the habitat for about 10 minutes.
RELATED: Silverback gorilla Harambe comes to Cincinnati Zoo for 'spring training'
Personnel from the zoo's dangerous animal response team decided to put down Harambe rather than tranquilize him because the boy was in danger and the tranquilizer would not have taken effect immediately, Maynard said. Two other gorillas in the exhibit were called back inside.
Maynard called it "a life-threatening situation" for the boy. The response team shot Harambe.
You can at free republic
prosecuted for child endangerment
A taze would instantly freeze the animal — the problem might be, though, that like tazing dogs, the taze power has to be kept up or else the animal will spring right back up. It would need a different design of tazer, one with a substantial power pack.
Sue the family for negligence leading to the loss of a valuable animal. Cost of replacement, loss of revenue, and .oney spent rescuing their child.
I assume a tazer may not bring down a silverback, plus if he was down in an enclosure he’d be out of range.
Perhaps, but one thing I’ve learned in raising kids and working with them in different situations is that they can move far faster than anyone could imagine.
That poor kid is going to have nightmares for life after that.
But I’ll bet when his parents tell him to mind after this, he’ll listen.
My first thought was where the hell were the parents.
Yep. I was just there about a month ago with the grandkids. A younger male gorilla was acting all macho when this silverback who was just killed walked out. They did the thundering at each other routine, and then the younger left into the caves.
A week later we’re with the grandkids at a restaurant. My son was motioning me to one end of the table, and I was motioning him to the other. My 6 year old grandson in a low ‘golf announcer voice’ gave a running explanation of ‘silverback’ behavior to my wife explaining about young silverbacks (his dad) and old silverbacks (me). My wife roared!
It’s a good memory, and these stupid parents of this kid have taken a noble creature off of God’s good earth.
More than $9,000.
Thank, HiTech. Good info.
Less expensive than I thought.
Also a baby bison at Yellowstone.
Yep. Probably smoking da ganja in the bamboo garden at the back of the exhibit
And dealing with the media.
Yep. Now watch the negligent parents sue the zoo for not having a safe enough (child proof) enclosure.
“So in the span of a week, two lions and a gorilla have been put to death because of the actions of stupid humans.”
Yup. However, them animals were more stupid than humans as they got caught and caged by ummm, “stupid” humans.
Agreed. Gorillas are usually all bark and no bite, especially when compared to chimpanzees. They are mostly “gentle giants”.
The parents probably had the kid sitting on the low fence watching and he might have squirmed out of their grasp after telling him how CUTE the gorilla was......either that or he crawled thru the rung of the fence....either way the parents are responsible for his safety.
Probably.
The zoo should get a drug/alcohol test right away.
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