14 Answers

I have been to several zoos and I see that  parents let their children run wild!  If you are at a zoo you need to be aware at all times!  The  Zoo had a bad choice to make and the parents should be forever grateful their kid is alive! WAKE UP PEOPLE!

A tranquilizer takes five to ten minutes to work. The gorilla could have killed the child in a second. I'm sure the person that shot him would have loved for there to be a different way to end the situation. It was not a "shoot first and ask questions later" situation. It was a "save the child" situation. Tragic, but necessary. The parents were at fault for not keeping a better eye on their child and the zoo is at fault for having an enclosure that a child could get into.

By his behaviour the Gorilla was  becoming defensive and attempting to hold the child 'hostage'... he tossed that baby more than 10 feet and dragged him over unseen rocks through water deep enough to have drowned him had he been face down. As much as I adore Primates I believe the Zoo had no other option. To wait and see would have been folly.

My personal feelings regarding the imprisonment of primates is that endangered creatures need sanctuary and not to be used as entertainment on display. These great Apes should be in a huge sanctuary away from human eyes.

G'day Dave,,can you imagine the uproar if the Gorilla had killed the kid,,you could not really ask the gorilla what his intentions were,,Prosecute the mother?????ever take your eyes of a kid for a second while you are looking after the other kids,,Sorry for the Gorilla Dave,but as humans we should always put humans above animal life,,that is not to say we should go around murdering animals,,>>>>>>><<<<<<<..

If the tranquilizer could have been fast-acting, killing the gorilla might have been averted. Sadder still, if the parents and child had been respectful of the zoo and its inhabitants, the question wouldn't need to be asked.

Hold the family accountable and financially responsible.

No animal should have to die because of irresponsible or stupid  human parents.

....the fencing area was not child proof

....reaction by parent questionable and obviously not effective

....mind set of the gorilla that did not cooperate with zoo staff as did the two females and perceived danger to child

....training of zoo staff

....time to think/react

....all contributed to the gorilla's death and saving the child

Todays "risk management" I'm afraid, always go with the worst case scenario, nobody could tell what the animals intentions were, I was shocked when I first saw this but understand why it was done, the boys parents need some serious parenting classes, he was apparently trying to get over the barriers for quite some time, so it's not really a case of "take your eyes off them for a second or two"!

country bumpkin

LOL Sunny/Dave!

What’s stupid is the mother, in defense to herself, said that but for the grace of God the child survived with only a concussion and a few scrapes. Jeez louweez! What if the child were running out into a street (busy or not)? Same difference as far as I can tell. Yes, the beast needed to be shot but I think the parents should be prosecuted……...

We can all jump to conclusions regarding who is the terrible person 'at fault' or we can be sensible and wait for all of the facts, which to this point, are not known. Regardless, the question is who shall we save? An animal or a child? This is a question? Really????

Ducky

It doesn't sound callous at all. Human life comes before an animal but of course, the animal activists now have another 'cause'.

Well really,I don't know.I'm glad it wasn't my decision to make.It did look as though he never intended any harm to the boy.But who knows what a Gorilla is thinking? Let's just be glad the boy got out alive & well.

Yes!

As usual the gun ho's are out, there is no reason why this gorilla was shot and killed, it;s a zoo. most zoo's have a tranquiliser  gun ready, now an endangered 17 year old gorrilla is dead because parents are not accountable for their childrens action.  I get really sh#!% ed off with this shoot first, ask questions later mentality.

The fence was only 3 ft high,and it was reported that the boy climbed thru it. And walked thru some brush before falling down into the mote.The mother had 6 kids with her and was trying to keep track of them. The only thing they could do was shoot the ape, b/c anything could happen. He could have critically bit the boy,or crushed him or his head or anything.I blame the zoo for having a lousy barrier .

country bumpkin

I blame the mom for being a lousy parent, MCM.

country bumpkin

I understand Clu.