[Amy Jade]

I think shooting the Gorilla was ultimately the right decision, it was clearly not protecting the child and had the animal been tranquilized it could have lashed out and killed the kid.

I do blame the parent, she should have been aware of where her child was at all times, it's not about keeping an eye on him 24/7 as some have said it's about being a good parent and bring responsible. On facebook a woman who visits the zoo frequently said the child must have crawled through shrubbery and over railings to even get close to the edge of the edge of the enclosure. The stupid bitch clearly took her eyes off her child for more than a few seconds for him to do that.

[Amy Jade]

When I used to go to Chester Zoo when I was little I remember my mum holding my hand at the open exhibits, it's not solely down to the zoo to babysit, a little common sense is surely expected?

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

I think shooting the Gorilla was ultimately the right decision, it was clearly not protecting the child and had the animal been tranquilized it could have lashed out and killed the kid.

I do blame the parent, she should have been aware of where her child was at all times, it's not about keeping an eye on him 24/7 as some have said it's about being a good parent and bring responsible. On facebook a woman who visits the zoo frequently said the child must have crawled through shrubbery and over railings to even get close to the edge of the edge of the enclosure. The stupid bitch clearly took her eyes off her child for more than a few seconds for him to do that.

Not necessarily, she could have taken her eyes off him for a couple of seconds giving him enough time to be out of her sight, that doesn't mean she wasn't looking around for him in the wrong places, giving him enough time to climb in there (I'm not saying this is what happened, just that it doesn't actually mean that she wasn't paying attention for all that time that it took for him to get in there, if you get what I mean)

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

When I used to go to Chester Zoo when I was little I remember my mum holding my hand at the open exhibits, it's not solely down to the zoo to babysit, a little common sense is surely expected?

I wouldn't call making sure enclosures are secure baby sitting

[Ashley.]

LT is anti-religion? I would never have guessed.

[Ammi]

..a zoo is though a place which is essentially for families to visit..so built to keep out children from the enclosures and keep them safe ... with fences ..?...they should be made so that it wouldn't ever be possible for any child to climb over and this is a very young/small child as well..so, so much easier for a larger child..?..there shouldn't have been any shrubbery which could have been crawled through etc and no possible way for him to have been able to get into the enclosure...I mean, that seems like basic safety requirements because it would have to be allowed for parents taking their eyes of their child for a few moments...

[Amy Jade]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I wouldn't call making sure enclosures are secure baby sitting

And I wouldn't call watching your child closely in a zoo much to ask, undoubtedly the enclosure wasn't as appropriate as it should have been but if the mother had put his interests first and actually taken care of him none of this would have happened.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

And I wouldn't call watching your child closely in a zoo much to ask, undoubtedly the enclosure wasn't as appropriate as it should have been but if the mother had put his interests first and actually taken care of him none of this would have happened.

I think you're being unreasonable tbh, people get distracted, it happens, wait till you have a kid yourself and come back to me when they're 5 and tell me that not one single time in their whole life did you get distracted

[LaLaLand]

Parents need to be reprimanded for causing all of this mess by not watching their child but also the zoo need to look into how such a small child could be able to get into the enclosure to avoid anything happening like this again for sure (higher barriers for a start!)

That poor gorilla.

[arista]

Originally Posted by DigitalSid

The mother's an idiot and the Gorilla should have been tranquilised.

Bang On Right DS

[Crimson Dynamo]

In a zoo, looking at a massive gorilla, in an open pen situation, you dont ever take your eye off a kid, even for 1 second

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

In a zoo, looking at a massive gorilla, in an open pen situation, you dont ever take your eye off a kid, even for 1 second

omg I'm sorry but this coming from the guy who defended the McCanns decision to leave three babies alone in an unlocked apartment while they went out drinking

[_Tom_]

The right thing was done as far as I am concerned. It's humans before animals, end of story. No sane person could sit there and watch a 4 year old boy get killed by an animal. If they hadn't have stepped in, and the boy had died, everyone would be up in arms that they didn't shoot the gorilla.

For a kid to be able to in the first place get into a gorilla enclosure is a safety issue at the zoo you would think.

I just don't get the uproar about it, the gorilla's dead which of course is sad, but hello - we've got a 4 year old boy who's safe and sound.

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

And I wouldn't call watching your child closely in a zoo much to ask, undoubtedly the enclosure wasn't as appropriate as it should have been but if the mother had put his interests first and actually taken care of him none of this would have happened.

The parents have more than one kid, it's tough to keep your eye on every kid. If you turn your eye for a second, anything can happen. Parents make mistakes, no parent is perfect.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by _Tom_

The right thing was done as far as I am concerned. It's humans before animals, end of story. No sane person could sit there and watch a 4 year old boy get killed by an animal. If they hadn't have stepped in, and the boy had died, everyone would be up in arms that they didn't shoot the gorilla.

For a kid to be able to in the first place get into a gorilla enclosure is a safety issue at the zoo you would think.

I just don't get the uproar about it, the gorilla's dead which of course is sad, but hello - we've got a 4 year old boy who's safe and sound.



The parents have more than one kid, it's tough to keep your eye on every kid. If you turn your eye for a second, anything can happen. Parents make mistakes, no parent is perfect.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by _Tom_

The right thing was done as far as I am concerned. It's humans before animals, end of story. No sane person could sit there and watch a 4 year old boy get killed by an animal. If they hadn't have stepped in, and the boy had died, everyone would be up in arms that they didn't shoot the gorilla.

For a kid to be able to in the first place get into a gorilla enclosure is a safety issue at the zoo you would think.

I just don't get the uproar about it, the gorilla's dead which of course is sad, but hello - we've got a 4 year old boy who's safe and sound.



The parents have more than one kid, it's tough to keep your eye on every kid. If you turn your eye for a second, anything can happen. Parents make mistakes, no parent is perfect.

so by that token I hope you are not one of those who criticise the Mccanns?

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

so by that token I hope you are not one of those who criticise the Mccanns?

I wouldn't call making a conscious decision to leave you children on their own for hours while you went out drinking a momentary distraction, how you justify that but condemn these parents is baffling tbqh

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

omg I'm sorry but this coming from the guy who defended the McCanns decision to leave three babies alone in an unlocked apartment while they went out drinking

[Crimson Dynamo]

Astonishing new footage shows gorilla 'PROTECTING' boy and holding his hand before being shot dead



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...orilla-8082168

[Crimson Dynamo]

Also think about the other Gorillas in that pen, intelligent creatures, what do they now think about Humans?

[user104658]

'Do you know any four-year-olds? They can climb over anything'

Trying to avoid the blame with ridiculous statements: I know plenty of 4 year olds and, no, amazingly, they can't simply "climb over anything" .

IF they are going to keep dangerous animals in captivity, they need better enclosures. That's about the long and short of it. This idea that it would be "impossible" to have fences that a child couldn't climb over... is just nonsense.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Astonishing new footage shows gorilla 'PROTECTING' boy and holding his hand before being shot dead



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...orilla-8082168

There's a good chance that the gorilla was trying to protect the boy, it certainly sounds like it, however it would take a split second for it to kill him even completely unintentionally... especially in a situation where people are starting to panic and the animal is becoming confused. It's tragic, and maybe they could have gotten him out without incident, but in my opinion, it's simply not worth risking the child's life in that way.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

There's a good chance that the gorilla was trying to protect the boy, it certainly sounds like it, however it would take a split second for it to kill him even completely unintentionally... especially in a situation where people are starting to panic and the animal is becoming confused. It's tragic, and maybe they could have gotten him out without incident, but in my opinion, it's simply not worth risking the child's life in that way.

I dont buy "she only took her eye off him for a second"

It does not take a second to get into a dangerous animal pen - it takes a second to run off to the ice cream van but go under the rail, through wires and over the moat wall?

If it so easy it would happen all the time surely? I would be very interested to see the video footage of the bit prior to him entering..

[user104658]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

I dont buy "she only took her eye off him for a second"

It does not take a second to get into a dangerous animal pen - it takes a second to run off to the ice cream van but go under the rail, through wires and over the moat wall?

If it so easy it would happen all the time surely? I would be very interested to see the video footage of the bit prior to him entering..

I agree and I wouldn't take my eyes off my kids for a second if there was any risk at all of something like that happening (dangerous animals and fences that aren't basically sky-high)... however I have to say, like others, I do find it a bit confusing that you particularly have such an issue with it LT...

Anyway, HOW he got in there doesn't really affect my thinking on whether or not they should have killed the gorilla. No matter whose fault it was (parents or park... it was definitely someone's) it happened, and from that point there was really only one outcome.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I agree and I wouldn't take my eyes off my kids for a second if there was any risk at all of something like that happening (dangerous animals and fences that aren't basically sky-high)... however I have to say, like others, I do find it a bit confusing that you particularly have such an issue with it LT...

Anyway, HOW he got in there doesn't really affect my thinking on whether or not they should have killed the gorilla. No matter whose fault it was (parents or park... it was definitely someone's) it happened, and from that point there was really only one outcome.

Whilst I get why it was shot I am not 100% comfortable with the notion that a human life is somehow more valuable than that of a gorilla but that is another debate

[AnnieK]

It's a terribly sad situation. The gorilla certainly looks like he is trying to protect the boy and by all accounts the screaming visitors were agitating the situation but ultimately there was only going to be one outcome when a child is at risk. Had the gorilla killed him, I would imagine he would be put to sleep anyway. The zoo should have ensured there was no possible way this could have happened.....or better still zoos shouldn't have caged animals and money invested in conservation in the wild.