Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

[mahool]

After 3 year old boy slipped into gorilla enclosure.

Petition has filed on change org site. It sounds ridiculous. Value of human life is lesser than the life of gorilla.

Similar incident happen in Indian zoo when big cat killed the boy when slipped into enclosure. No one helped that poor guy.

[SID_NY]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

So there has been a HUGE uproar on social media about it. Everyone is blaming the parents first and then the zoo officials for making a wrong decision to shoot the guerilla. But like every other case I try to find an opinion from a subject matter expert (SME) as they are always more authentic than social media exageratted status updates or memes.

Here is the I found from someone who actually works with these animals:

I am going to try to clear up a few things that have been weighing on me about Harambe and the Cinci Zoo since I read the news this afternoon.

I have worked with Gorillas as a zookeeper while in my twenties (before children) and they are my favorite animal (out of dozens) that I have ever worked closely with. I am gonna go ahead and list a few facts, thoughts and opinions for those of you that aren’t familiar with the species itself, or how a zoo operates in emergency situations.

Now Gorillas are considered ‘gentle giants’ at least when compared with their more aggressive cousins the chimpanzee, but a 400+ pound male in his prime is as strong as roughly 10 adult humans. What can you bench press? OK, now multiply that number by ten. An adult male silverback gorilla has one job, to protect his group. He does this by bluffing or intimidating anything that he feels threatened by.

Gorillas are considered a Class 1 mammal, the most dangerous class of mammals in the animal kingdom, again, merely due to their size and strength. They are grouped in with other apes, tigers, lions, bears, etc.

While working in an AZA accredited zoo with Apes, keepers DO NOT work in contact with them. Meaning they do NOT go in with these animals. There is always a welded mesh barrier between the animal and the humans.

In more recent decades, zoos have begun to redesign enclosures, removing all obvious caging and attempting to create a seamless view of the animals for the visitor to enjoy watching animals in a more natural looking habitat. this is great until little children begin falling into exhibits which of course can happen to anyone, especially in a crowded zoo-like setting.

I have watched this video over again, and with the silverback’s postering, and tight lips, it’s pretty much the stuff of any keeper’s nightmares, and I have had MANY while working with them. This job is not for the complacent. Gorillas are kind, curious, and sometimes silly, but they are also very large, very strong animals. I always brought my OCD to work with me. checking and rechecking locks to make sure my animals and I remained separated before entering to clean.

I keep hearing that the Gorilla was trying to protect the boy. I do not find this to be true. Harambe reaches for the boys hands and arms, but only to position the child better for his own displaying purposes.

Males do very elaborate displays when highly agitated, slamming and dragging things about. Typically they would drag large branches, barrels and heavy weighted balls around to make as much noise as possible. Not in an effort to hurt anyone or anything (usually) but just to intimidate. It was clear to me that he was reacting to the screams coming from the gathering crowd.

Harambe was most likely not going to separate himself from that child without seriously hurting him first (again due to mere size and strength, not malicious intent) Why didn’t they use treats? well, they attempted to call them off exhibit (which animals hate), the females in the group came in, but Harambe did not. What better treat for a captive animal than a real live kid!

They didn’t use Tranquilizers for a few reasons, A. Harambe would’ve taken too long to become immobilized, and could have really injured the child in the process as the drugs used may not work quickly enough depending on the stress of the situation and the dose B. Harambe would’ve have drowned in the moat if immobilized in the water, and possibly fallen on the boy trapping him and drowning him as well.

Many zoos have the protocol to call on their expertly trained dart team in the event of an animal escape or in the event that a human is trapped with a dangerous animal. They will evaluate the scene as quickly and as safely as possible, and will make the most informed decision as how they will handle the animal.

I can’t point fingers at anyone in this situation, but we need to really evaluate the safety of the animal enclosures from the visitor side. Not impeding that view is a tough one, but their should be no way that someone can find themselves inside of an animal’s exhibit.

I know one thing for sure, those keepers lost a beautiful, and I mean gorgeous silverback and friend. I feel their loss with them this week. As educators and conservators of endangered species, all we can do is shine a light on the beauty and majesty of these animals in hopes to spark a love and a need to keep them from vanishing from our planet. Child killers, they are not. It’s unfortunate for the conservation of the species, and the loss of revenue a beautiful zoo such as Cinci will lose. tragedy all around.

*me working (very carefully) with a 400+ pound silverback circa 2009

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s526x395/13332816_1203379103029809_8596977184566407029_n.jpg?oh=5a5d3b3bb9915f150e90f0849ee9f0aa&oe=57E0BDCB

Facebook

[mahool]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

@SID_NY

So there has been a HUGE uproar on social media about it. Everyone is blaming the parents first and then the zoo officials for making a wrong decision to shoot the guerilla. But like every other case I try to find an opinion from a subject matter expert (SME) as they are always more authentic than social media exageratted status updates or memes.

Here is the I found from someone who actually works with these animals:

https://www.facebook.com/amanda.odonoughue/posts/1203379586363094

:k:

Have you visited zoo in past? What was your experience and why are public falling down in cage?

[SID_NY]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

Look who has jumped in this “hot” debate.. :smack:

Donald Trump Defends Zoo’s Shooting of Harambe the Gorilla

Donald Trump weighed in on the shooting of Harambe the Gorillaon Tuesday, defending the Cincinnati Zoo’s choice to end the gorilla’s life after a 4-year-old boygot into the animal’s enclosure Saturday.

“I think it’s a very tough call. It’s amazing because there were moments with the gorilla the way he held that child it was almost like a mother holding a baby. It looked so beautiful and calm. And then there were moments where it looked pretty dangerous,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said. “I don’t think they had a choice. I mean, probably they didn’t have a choice. You have a child, a young child who’s at stake, and it’s too bad there wasn’t another way.”

[mahool]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

@SID_NY

Look who has jumped in this “hot” debate..

Donald Trump Defends Zoo’s Shooting of Harambe the Gorilla

Jithy di khoti… uthy aan khaloti

Trum is attention seeker… this is the level of picking issues…

[SID_NY]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

Now this is simply outrageous.

People need to move on and leave the poor mother/family alone

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/31/zoos-arent-your-baby-sitter-parenting-critics-flay-mom-after-gorilla-shot-to-protect-her-toddler

People wasted little time responding to the woman’s Facebook post with hateful comments, forcing her to eventually remove it altogether, People magazine reported. They then found the Facebook page for a preschool where a woman by the same name works, records show. They blasted that next, according to news reports, forcing the school to delete its page, too.
[INDENT=7]
[/INDENT]
Other women who share her name on social media received threatening messages intended for her, attacks that called her “scum,” “a really bad mother” and a “f‑‑‑ing killer.”
“that animal is more important than your s‑‑‑ kid,” one man messaged.
Another woman wrote:* “u should’ve been shot.”

---

At times, the barrage of insults were racially charged, reported the Cincinnati Enquirer.
*By Monday, the threats grew so intense that Cincinnati police felt compelled to act.
*
“Even though they’re not direct death threats, we’re going to reach out to the mother and let her know what’s going on, if she doesn’t know already,” police spokesman Lt. Steve Saunders told the Enquirer. “We’re going to keep her in the loop. We’re going to err on the side of safety for her and her family.”

[queer]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

they need to shut zoos and such idiotic things down. this is the 21st century. either kill and eat the animal or let it live free. or put donald trumps and erdogans in it.

and yeah, the mom is dumb to have let her kid get into a situation where the kid end ups in an animal enclosure. rule #1](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) of zoo going, stay on the right side of the cages and enclosures. she must pay a huge fine or something. human life is important but making innocent animals pay for humans mistakes is unfair.

[Southie]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

I still can't tell from this thread if the child was saved. If the child was saved, I think killing the gorilla was worth it.

But I agree with the poster above - ban zoos. Fusk revenue.

[SID_NY]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

I still can't tell from this thread if the child was saved. If the child was saved, I think killing the gorilla was worth it.

But I agree with the poster above - ban zoos. Fusk revenue.

And i still cant say that you dont know about it or you are just saying it. The child, 4 yr old, was definitely saved after guerrilla was shot.

[Southie]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

And i still cant say that you dont know about it or you are just saying it. The child, 4 yr old, was definitely saved after guerrilla was shot.

No I really didn't know about it. (I would not joke about a child's life).

Glad the child was rescued. Had to be done.

[ReadMe]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

@SID_NY -- very good of you to provide such an informative article. It gives a perspective.

At the end of the day it is very easy to blame the parents. Sometimes Sh!t happens and there is nothing that can be done about it. We have to learn from our mistakes and move on.

I am not trying to be smart here. From my perspective, zoo officials would be more careful and would try to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

Maybe because of this incident, zoos across the world would have a better managed facility.

[Southie]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

It's a zoo out there.

[SID_NY]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

Comedian Jeremy McLellan put a interesting perspective to it:

[QUOTE]
People keep asking me for my opinion on Harambe the Gorilla. Was he a threat to the child or just trying to help? Should they have killed the gorilla or waited a little longer? Here's what I think: There are 7 billion humans on the planet. Every year we kill and eat 150 billion animals and destroy their habitats. Because of humans, there are only 100,000 western lowland gorillas left on earth. We lock them in cages and take turns looking at them for entertainment. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. However, in the interest of fairness, I think once a year, one of them should be allowed to rip a toddler in half. Like, make it a ceremony and broadcast it live to the other gorillas. Just one toddler, though! I'm not a monster.
[/QUOTE]

[TLK]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

They have already killed Harambe the day they caged him. He was destined to come out dead from that zoo. And he did

[Southie]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

What they did be Haram

[sensibilitate]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

Even if the animals are in a cage or a restrictive habitat, still i considere to be dangerous to go to zoo. The animals are still animals. They don't learn education. The instincts still remains.

[bookenthusiast]

Re: Gorilla killed in Cincinnati Zoo

Poor Harambe. To all the parents, never leave you kid even a single second! A life was taken because of you irresponsibility!