[EinNYC]

Absolutely disgusting. Could they not have distracted the gorilla with something while they grabbed the kid? Perhaps his favorite food? I do not believe they had to kill this gorilla, I believe their actions were motivated by unprofessional panic.

Where were the kid's "parents"? Surely it must have taken time for him to crawl under that fence. The "parents" should be liable for the purchase price of a new gorilla, child endangerment, etc.

Zoos should be forced to reassess their enclosures to make them not animal-proof, but idiot-proof, preventing unauthorized entry by any sized human.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Would agree with better sealing of the compound. If a little kid could get in there, so could a dog or a cat or a raccoon, which could harm the gorillas.

But as it was, probably the threat of lawsuits was foremost in their mind. They chose to shoot the gorilla.

[bus man]

Absolutely disgusting. Could they not have distracted the gorilla with something while they grabbed the kid? Perhaps his favorite food? I do not believe they had to kill this gorilla, I believe their actions were motivated by unprofessional panic.

What I find absolutely disgusting is that some people on this thread are placing the life of an animal about that of a human being, the pinnacle of God's creation. Regardless of how the kid got in there, and regardless of whether or not the gorilla was doing anything uncharacteristic of his species, the fact that some people here would put an animal's life above that of a human child is repulsive.

[erlayman]

They were able to call out two females from the enclosure but once a Silverback got into the moat I’m not sure there was another viable option. We will have to wait until a video is released to get a complete story.