Ohio, the heart of it all

[Legbiter]

Sad but there were no good outcomes available once the silverback was manhandling the toddler, wondering what to make of it.

[derspiess]

Any pics of the barriers that the kid climbed over? Haven't been able to find any.

I don't have any pics, but they were sufficient to prevent any breaches for the first 38 years of the exhibit.  Having been there multiple times throughout the years, I can say it would have to take a lot of determination to get in.

Multiple witnesses are saying that the kid repeatedly said he was going to go in and his mother was on the phone until he was too far in to retrieve.  And once he was in, it certainly didn't help things to have the mother and other people in the crowd screaming hysterically. 

[Caliga]

Lose-lose situation.  If they hadn't shot the gorilla it could have ripped the kid's arms off, and then a different group of people (or maybe even the same group) would be foaming at the mouth.

[Admiral Yi]

How old is the kid?

[grumbler]

How old is the kid?

Three.

[derspiess]

Yesterday he was four.  Now he's three.  GOD IS AWSOME

[grumbler]

Yesterday he was four.  Now he's three.  GOD IS AWSOME

He was three yesterday as well.  Early reports had his age at four, but those were corrected (as I understand it).

[Jacob]

I don't have any pics, but they were sufficient to prevent any breaches for the first 38 years of the exhibit.  Having been there multiple times throughout the years, I can say it would have to take a lot of determination to get in.

Multiple witnesses are saying that the kid repeatedly said he was going to go in and his mother was on the phone until he was too far in to retrieve.  And once he was in, it certainly didn't help things to have the mother and other people in the crowd screaming hysterically.

Well why the fuck did none of those multiple witnesses intervene then?

[Jacob]

I mean... sure, mom should have been paying attention. No doubt about it.

But if you're watching a three year old kid proclaim that he's about to climb a barrier into a gorilla pit, and then proceed to do so - for several minutes apparently - and you are close enough to see that the mom is on the phone or whatever, and not cognizant of the kid's actions, what is stopping you from - you know, saying "hey kid, don't do that" and maybe even physically intervening? Or, at a bare minimum, interrupt the lady on the phone with a "hey lady, your kid is crawling into the gorilla pit!"

[CountDeMoney]

Don't tell me how to raise my child.

[derspiess]

DON'T YOU LAY HANDS ON MAH KID

I think it's one of those things where maybe you try to turn a blind eye to some other person's kid misbehaving to avoid saying something about the kid's bad behavior.  Anyway, one of the witnesses did try to go after the kid before he got past the point of no return but he was too quick for her.

[Malthus]

The zoo's barrier couldn't keep out an adventurous three year old?

Pools here have to have better fencing than that.

[derspiess]

Yesterday he was four.  Now he's three.  GOD IS AWSOME

He was three yesterday as well.  Early reports had his age at four, but those were corrected (as I understand it).

Thanks.

[derspiess]

The zoo's barrier couldn't keep out an adventurous three year old?

Pools here have to have better fencing than that.

The barrier plus moderately attentive parents kept kids out for decades.

[Malthus]

The zoo's barrier couldn't keep out an adventurous three year old?

Pools here have to have better fencing than that.

The barrier plus moderately attentive parents kept kids out for decades.

The fact that an accident never happened before doesn't mean the thing is inherently safe, though. Unless this particular three year old had budding superpowers, the fact that he could get through it is a pretty good indication it wasn't good enough.