cobrat- You are seriously incorrect here if you think this crowd of people was going to become quiet in the face of a large Gorilla hanging onto a 3 year old in the gorilla pit.
I feel it’s necessary to say that I had no idea of the mother’s (or child’s) race when earlier placing the majority of blame on her. I still do, given all the circumstances that we know (disclaimer, from the news stories, which I acknowledge are not always accurate), and I am not going to apologize for it.
Mostly I am of the opinion that a mom should know her own kid and what s/he is capable of… given the variety of responses here, most of us DO know our kid(s)’ personalities and might much better anticipate their mischief factor and respond in a public setting like a zoo, with dangers everywhere, accordingly. Especially if, if true, the child really did repeatedly say he was going into the gorilla enclosure, and the mom responded the way she (reportedly) did.
When we lose a child in a crowd or public place, which I’ll bet 90% of us have done, even if for a very brief second of time, usually the fears are around bad strangers (thanks to the media which headlines these kinds of things more often than not) or hazards like ponds/lakes, moving vehicles, high places, that sort of thing. The child here affirmatively took action that he knew he wasn’t supposed to; nothing happened to him, but because of him. And no, I am not blaming the child for seeking out mischief, but again, “totality of the circumstances” leads me to feel PO’d at the mom (and/or dad if he was there, I stopped reading the stories) for causing the death of the gorilla.
Agree that the screaming crowd was likely not helpful, but I suppose it’s hard not to be quite upset when witnessing something like this in person.
Yet often parents don’t know, and the results can be tragic.
When I was a young mother, one of my neighbors went shopping in a downtown area with her 4-year-old and 2-year-old. She had the 2-year-old in a stroller, with the 4-year-old holding on to the stroller.
The kids had behaved very well during the shopping trip, so the mom announced that they would go to the pizza place across the street for lunch. The 4-year-old let go of the stroller and ran into the street, where he was hit by a truck. He died later the same day.
Is there anyone here with more than one child who didn’t let their 4-year-old hold on to a stroller while walking down the street? Is there anyone here who would have anticipated that a developmentally normal child of that age would do what this child did?
Sometimes, you just don’t know what a kid will do.
yes Marian, that is for sure tragic. Awful, that poor mom. And we probably can all agree that no one, even mom, could have anticipated that.
I don’t find the situations comparable, though. It seems to me maybe zoo mom could have anticipated such a deliberate act (again, based on what the news says, and without personally knowing this family (do any of us?) so certainly my opinion may be flawed).
I know many here disagree, and that’s okay, it’s just my opinion.
Except in this case, you could have known since the kid said more than once he was going in.
Except that most people wouldn’t expect it to be possible. I’ve only been to a couple of zoos and Disney. I’ve watched entrances and exits to areas more (when my kids were little) to make sure my kids weren’t going out them. I never thought I’d need to make sure they don’t get into an actual exhibit. Even when they look open, I always thought it was some sort of deceptive thing where it’s actually impossible to get to the animals that way but you can’t tell. It never would have occurred to me that a person could get to the gorillas like the kid here did. So if I heard that, I’d have figured it almost as likely as if he said he was a super hero.
As a mom, I just don’t understand why there are so many questioning the mom or the Zoo officials. If you watch the video, it is very clear the Gorilla dragged the kid way too fast and quiet aggressive. The zoo officials did the right thing, amazing to see the kid stay calm and it is a miracle the kid didn’t get seriously hurt. There is big difference between how the gorilla 20yrs ago behaved vs Harambe.
Here is the link to the video that clearly shows how fast the Gorilla was moving. If the link is blocked out, watch the video of the current incident at the bottom of the above page.
http://wapo.st/1sY6tyI
Adding apologies if this video was already posted.
What @mom2twogirls said.
I must have taken my kids to zoos a dozen times when they were little – and some of those times, I was the only adult with two kids. It would never have occurred to me that a kid could get into an exhibit, so I never tried to prevent it. I focused on the other things they might do – like getting separated from me or eating stuff off the ground.
So, my factual question remains. How many kids did this mom have with her on the zoo visit?
It was an open exhibition. Where I live, an open exhibition means no fence. It has gurad rails advising you not to go further. It doesn’t stop you from going in. It is structured to stop animals coming out. It is a pleasant set up with animals in a more natural environment. Maybe someone could post how the setup at Cincinnati was. I read that someone went in after the boy. So I am guessing their setup is just as open.
Here’s a picture of the current fence, along with (further down the page) a picture of what they’re planning to replace it with.
http://www.westernjournalism.com/new-photos-of-zoo-fence-show-easy-path-to-gorilla-pit/
It seems to me that the current fence is pretty porous, but that it would take a concerted effort for a kid to get beyond it. It provides the kind of visual barrier most kids would pay attention to even if there’s nothing preventing a kid from climbing through it. I wonder what’s going to happen when some kid decides to climb over the next fence. Kids can be pretty inventive. Hopefully the zoo will get at least another 38 years out of whatever measures they put in place. 
Things get weird when Anonymous gets involved. This is a bit extreme.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/harambe-gorilla-anonymous-publishes-chilling-video-demanding-action-against-childs-parents-1563413
^Just as I thought. It tells you where the boundaries are but doesn’t stop you physically from going in. They are relying on you not to go in and disturb animals. I remember being amazed when our local zoo started converting to open exhibitions at how easy it would be to go in if I wanted to.
I don’t know about hounding parents but some kind of citation just to make it clear what is expected may not hurt.
I’m with @Marian, I took my two kids to the zoo by myself quite a few times when they were little and we had a zool pass. Would not have attempted that at an amusement park, etc. but the zoo seemed more manageable. I was worried that I had to keep an eye on them , as they were active boys. But it would not have occurred to me that I would have to worry about one of them being able to get into an enclosure with a gorilla ( or bear, or lion, or you name it) on top of that.
Does anyone know if the boy deliberately jumped into the moat or fell? Because he told his mom, he wanted to go in the water with the gorillas, that he jumped. If that is correct, I think the zoo undoubtedly didn’t anticipate anyone jumping down that distance into the gorilla enclosure.
For me, I am sympathetic towards the mom, but I do question why she didn’t pay more heed to the child after he announced his intention. I also didn’t like her initial response on Facebook where she primarily thanked God for the safety of her child and didn’t express any regret or guilt about the death of Harambe and a real appreciation of what the zoo sacrificed to save her son.
In my local zoo, they didn’t start open exhibitions until my college kid was in the first grade. Before then, animals were locked up behind the fence and no one could get in. My kid was old enough to understand rules by the time they completed the conversion to open exhibitions andit wasn’t an issue. I wouldn’t know what I would have done if it were open exhibitions when she was younger.
Reports say he was holding onto her pocket and let go. He was not constrained in any way. (no leash, mother holding his hand, confined to a stroller). Does that mean her hands were occupied with other kids or her phone or camera? Phone records would tell if she was on the phone or texting. If he wasn’t constrained in anyway and he said he wanted to jump or be with the gorilla several times then there was more chance of him separating from his mom. His mothers responses didn’t stop him from leaving her side. Knowing her own son and having worked with kids in a daycare setting it didn’t strike her to constrain him in anyway at that point. Some parents would at that point hold their child’s hand to make sure he doesn’t get lost in the crowd. I wouldn’t trust a 3 or 4 year old to walk freely if he is telling me repeatedly I want to be near the gorilla. (but that is just me because I don’t like crowds and would not let the child walk around freely especially if there are barriers and warning signs in the area. She will never forget this experience. I read somewhere that she had four kids but in total the family had six because her husband had two from a previous relationship. That is a lot to manage and it would be a challenge to give 100% attention to one child only. It is not clear how many kids were with her at that time. Once the investigation is done hopefully we will have some definite answers.
I have a neighbor with two boys. (ages 2 and 4) They don’t walk, they run. Many times the younger one falls down or is pushed down by the older one and cries. Not once has the mother told them don’t run walk. It went on for months and no one had the heart to say anything as she is expecting her third. They would climb the heater in the hallway to stand on the window sill to look outside. Finally management put a sign by the elevator stating that the hallways are not a playground for kids to run as it will disturb the neighbors. Till then her attitude was boys will be boys. They have a lot of energy.
Here’s an interview with someone who was at the gorilla enclosure when the incident happened. She describes the mother as having “other children.”
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/31/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/
^^ So based on the CNN videos she had other children and was taking a picture at the time.