The child said he wanted to go in. The mom said no you’re not. A witness says the mom got distracted for “seconds, maybe a minute.” And the kid did this and was “up and in” before anyone knew it. The mom was taking a picture for a second, with her kids at the zoo. Not exactly smoking crack at the time.
The woman in the CNN video doesn’t say anything about the mother taking a picture, although I know it was mentioned elsewhere. She said the mother was tending to the other children, gathering them up and moving them along, and in the 60 seconds that took the boy got away.
I could picture her strapping a squirmy younger child in a stroller, calling to the other kids, gathering and stowing their stuff, then turning to find the child who’d been at her hip gone. She was apparently calling for him as he crawled through the bushes so I don’t think this was a long time period.
The photos and videos on CNN were taken by the witness.
Oops, I see the second video contains a witness statement that the mom said she was taking a picture.
Wow! I’ve never heard so many perfect parents.
Most people could picture that kind of scenario, @Sue22 . Unless they’re looking for someone to blame for what was a very tragic event.
Don’t have kids if you know you can’t handle them and won’t be responsible for their safety. Problem solved.
@JasmineArmani, how many kids do you have?
@Sue22 None and it will stay that way 
Problem oversimplified.
Parenting is something you do only once. Each time your child reaches a new developmental stage, you need to adjust to the risks and abilities of a child that age. And children differ. Your second or third child may be nothing like the first. (For example, my second was much more active and much more daring than the first. I had to up my game considerably to keep her safe because she did things her more cautious older brother would never have thought of.)
Most of us don’t “know we can’t handle kids” before we have them. If we did, we probably wouldn’t become parents. We expect to learn along the way – and hopefully learn enough to keep our kids out of danger. But sometimes difficult or unexpected situations arise.
It’s not to blame anyone. It is more of regret that the silverback didn’t have to die, that wistful feeling after a loss. It didn’t have to happen. The kid gave a warning to his mom.
I always say “I don’t know a single adult who had a normal childhood who doesn’t have at least one scar.” How did we all get those scars? Mostly by doing stupid things while our parents weren’t looking.
@Iglooo I think everyone here wishes Harambee hadn’t had to die. That is a given.
“The kid gave a warning to his mom.” Yes, and there was still no way most parents would think having a 3 year old kid say they wanted to do this or that (go play with a gorilla for instance) would ever lead to something like this.
I was the kid that ran away. I didn’t get to do a lot of things because of it. The worst was when I ran away from my mom in Heathrow International Airport while my mom was grabbing suitcases from the belt (I was 2). I am now an adult with plenty of scars to show for my “adventurous spirit.”
I said at the beginning that I didn’t know who to blame. I still don’t blame the zoo- and think they are probably the least culpable party if there is any fault to be spread around- but I’ve just decided blame isn’t needed. It seems like it was just an unfortunate series of events.
What is mindblowing to me though is that not one person of the many that apparently saw him thought to grab the kid. I am completely that person who has and will instinctually grab kids who look like they are going to hurt themselves. I’ll probably get yelled at for it eventually but I’d rather get yelled at than watch some kid crack his head open or something. I absolutely understand why someone wouldn’t grab a kid going over the fence, but I have to believe it was bystander syndrome since so many people saw him go over and didn’t seem to do anything (other than the one man who was too late.)
@romanigypsyeyes I think most witnesses seem to be saying the same thing but I haven’t seen all of what has been said- but it does seem to have happened VERY quickly . By the time anybody realized how serious it was, the kid was already beyond any railing and in the bushes.
I just have a hard time figuring out how a 3 year old gets over a fence like that so quickly. I guess I’ve just never seen a 3 year old who is as acrobatic as that one.
^I think he went between the wires.
This zoo and all zoos need to tighten up access. Obviously, the mom had no clue how the set up really was because it would have alarmed her when the child said he was going in if she had realized he actually could! Had there been the 10 foot Plexiglas in front of them, no worries, he could not have proceeded. She didn’t know how easy the barriers were to breach.
But bring out the Plexiglas and bring on THOSE protests. Seriously. A no-win situation.
@romanigypsyeyes In one of the videos posted a woman says her husband tried to go after him but by the time he crossed over the fence the child had already fallen down to the moat. He started talking to the child and he was the one that told the mom that the child was down there. http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/31/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/
Someone waaaay upthread mentioned the missing 7yo boy in Japan.
He’s been found alive and well! No bear bites.
Doesn’t surprise me at all. I wouldn’t have done anything. Touch someone or their kid and you can be charged with assault.
If the zoo is now planning to change the fencing, then the mother probably will sue. If they are changing it, then they must see something wrong with it now. The backlash against her will probably make her decide to sue. And I’m sure the zoo will settle the case.
She’s not going to sue. There are no hard damages.