Please help me out. I see no wires, except those that are part of the fence the child in the photo is leaning on. I have old eyes.
I see a fence, bushes immediately beyond the fence, for a very short distance, (described as 4 ft in other places) and can’t see any wires in the bushes. I can’t see beyond the bushes to the edge of the pit. It looks like the bushes could obscure the pit edge, to me, in that photo.
I think the wires might be those in the fence. There’s a wooden piece, perhaps a foot tall, which a kid could stand on for a better view, but which they would have to crawl over in order to crawl through the wire fence. Then they’d have the rather thick bushes to push through to get to the edge. My theory is that crawling through the hedge the boy couldn’t really see the ledge until he was falling over it. It’s possible he was just trying to get a better view or find a way to walk down into the enclosure, not realizing he’d fall 12 feet.
Here is a link with some good pictures of both the old and new fence.
The vegetation looks fairly dense, and like it would serve as another “fence” of sorts. One would think that small kid would have to bushwhack through it.
http://www.westernjournalism.com/new-photos-of-zoo-fence-show-easy-path-to-gorilla-pit/
You can also see the wires in the picture @doschicos posted.
Enlarge the photos until you can see the wires.
At our zoo, they use “aggressive” vegetation, such as thorny cactus and bougainvillea, where they want to keep people away from barriers. They believe having visible thorns is helpful in reinforcing the “keep out” message. Bougainvillea thorns are quite painful–it was a lot of work to remove from our homes.
Thank you, doschicos! Those are better photos.
I can see the wooden logs, then a metal and wire fence. I cannot see wires in the bushes beyond the metal and wire fence. Do you all see wires in the bushes? I am not able to enlarge the photo.
This reminds me of how my hearing is going. I can’t hear the dogs down the road any longer, but that is sort of a blessing.
The horizontal wires are about 10 to 12 inches above the vegetation.
Okay - there are side to side wires a foot above the bushes, in the air? Like another fence? For someone taller than a 3 or 4 yr old? I am sorry - I just can’t see anything. Thank you for describing.
To me the new fences look like the ones that should have been there from the beginning! Why weren’t they? They do not obstruct the view more than the original. They do not look much,if at all, more expensive. But they DO seem to clearly prevent young children from getting through. No brainier! Except, apparently it wasn’t, until a child got through.
The original fence looks fairly easy to get through for a small child if the child is determined to. For some reason, this child was. It does not matter that for the last, whatever it was years, no child was determined enough or parents were more attentive, or whatever, that a child did not get through. This child did, easily, it seems.
The new fence will not prevent those tall enough to get over the fence. Open enclosures will have to be eliminated to guarantee no entry. So we go back to old zoos or no zoos.
Whether to have zoos or not is a different discussion.
I agree. Looking at those pics it is hard to believe how low that original fence was. And those bushes just look like a row of boxwoods to me. Ver easy to get through. Makes one wonder how the gorillas aren’t escaping as well.
“Makes one wonder how the gorillas aren’t escaping as well.”
They have to get up a 15 foot wall without a ladder or be able to jump across the ravine.
So the child fell the 15 feet?
Yes, he did.
In our local zoo, not everything is an open exhibition. You can either skip the open part when they are young or hold hands while there.
In one of the report, the witness waas cited saying that the boy wanted to go in the moat, That would indicate he ended up where he wanted to be.
Mother will not face criminal charges.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mother-of-3-year-old-boy-who-climbed-into-gorilla-enclosure-will-not-face-criminal-charges/ar-BBtPUiI?li=BBnbfcL
The mom has a duty to watch her kid, but as an invitee of the zoo, the zoo has a duty to make sure a small kid cant breach the enclosure.
Either you take all eyewitness accounts or you dont, Many want to cite the fact the little boy said he wanted to go in there, but discount the other witness, who was right there, who said, the mom was not negligent, and it happened really fast.
Such a sad situation all the way around. I myself raised two death-wish toddlers, 24 months apart and this story reminds me why we never took a Disney cruise! I knew that as soon as we sailed out of port, I’d hear the words, ‘Man overboard!’ And I’d look down horrified to see my kids swimming with the sharks. No thank you. You have to know your own limitations, and because I never grew eyes behind my head, I stayed away from “attractive nuisances.”
As postscript, l stopped visiting aquariums and zoos when the kids were young because it makes me sad. I would take them instead to petting zoos, much more interactive and the worst that could happen is a goat would nibble on their shirts 
I agree you have to know your limitations and what you are comfortable with. Supersize crowds (like on fourth of July) make me nervous. Parents know their kids best and should adjust their safety measures accordingly.