The End of a Gorilla LIfe

[Gregory Matthews]

I have a former college roommate (and Academy friend) who has become a world expert in primate psychobiology.  In his professional life, he has worked directly with the gorilla who was recently killed to save the life of the child who fell into the area with the gorilla.  He also knows the people involved in making the decision to end the  life of the gorilla.  I spoke with my friend this morning about this case.

As he said, this situation was both sad and tragic.  He does not want to second guess from the sidelines.  He is very clear that to have darted the gorilla would have endangered the life of the child.   If that had been done, it is  likely that the gorilla would have immediately ended the child’s life.

He mentioned a situation that he was involved with in the Chicago Brookfield Zoo.  They had trained a female gorilla to retrieve a doll that would be thrown into the cage and immediately take it to the keeper.  Well one day it happened and that female gorilla immediately picked the child up and delivered it to a zoo keeper.  He was involved in the re-design of that cage to further prevent human entry.

He went on to say that the typical design of such cages is focused more on preventing the escape of the animals and less on preventing entry by humans.

NOTE:  While I have not posted his name, he has given me permission to report my conversation with him this morning.

[Gregory Matthews]

To be more specific:

My friend stated that in his very limited review of the TV video tape the gorilla appeared to him to be somewhat protective of the child, but, very confused and attempting to make sense of what was happening around him.  No one could have predicted what the gorilla would have done next.

 

[Geoarrge]

It's important to understand that TV and movies portray tranquilizer darts misleadingly.  A dose sufficient to cause unconsciousness in seconds will be fatal in a matter of minutes.

[Gregory Matthews]

That would give the gorilla time enough to  kill the child.

 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

the gorilla was paying more attention to the child than the child's mother... imho

[Robert]

Child or gorilla?  Gorilla has to go bye-bye....

[bonnie]

It is a animal.While it is sad that he had to be put down, that pales in comparison to what could have happened to the child. The child takes priority 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

of course, the child's welfare comes first....but there wouldn't have even been a problem if the parents had been paying attention to their child... witnesses said the mother wasn't paying attention.  It was another person who noticed the child and tried to stop him from messing around trying to get to the gorilla's area.

 

[bonnie]

Very true. However there are now petitions being circulated snd calls for the authorities to investigate her fitness as a mother. A four year old can move pretty quickly and they can place themselves in danger.I was paronoid about my boys getting hurt or worse.We have one son that could move at the speed of light  and was always  into something. On vacation we stopped at the reptile gardens snd there was a encloursure with alligators. The boys sat on the grass to watch them. I turned my back on our Dennis the Menace.Didnt move away just turned around to help one of the other boys. In that few seconds he picked up a long stick laying beside him, had his arm inside the fence, poking the alligator trying to make him move.If he had lost an arm I would never have forgiven myself.It was my fault but it only takes a second

[Tom Wetmore]

Very true on how quickly a child can move and put themselves in harms way.  Been there, done that, as they say.  

[Robert]

https://gma.yahoo.com/happened-inside-gorilla-enclosure-cincinnati-zoo-leading-fateful-192727484--abc-news-topstories.html

[LadyRachelLynn]

While I agree that it only takes a second for a kid to get themselves in trouble, if you have a 3/4 year old child who is KNOWN for such things, there are things you CAN do to prevent them from climbing over a fence, through some bushes and falling over a 15 foot embankment.  I'm envisioning strollers, leashes, etc.  I was a kid who was the lightening quick trouble maker.  My mom got wrist leashes, I immediately took them off.  So she got a harness.  She got flack because she was treating me like a dog.  She didn't care.  She had to keep me safe.  

I have four of my own, and have taken them to the zoo regularly.  We discuss regularly why we obey ALL the safety rules, not climbing on railings, not running off, etc.  A friend of mine's daughter almost was kidnapped one day from the same zoo about 8 years ago, so i am able to use that as a teaching point.  I have had kids accidentally disappear, because they went the wrong direction at an intersection, or what have you.  But there SHOULD be an investigation to make sure this mother HONESTLY had one of those moments and that this isn't a regular thing.  IF the mother regularly does not pay attention to her kids, then there should be something done about that, about her kids, and about her responsibility to the zoo for the loss they incurred in defense of her child.  However, if the investigation reveals that this was an honest mistake, and that this parent typically does an excellent job parenting, then maybe pardon her in this situation.

[Outta Here]

I disagree. If a mother is investigated every time the public calls for it, we'd never see the end of it. Ever.

I thank God my children are raised and I am no longer under public scrutiny--especially in the modern age 9f the Internet.

[LadyRachelLynn]

I don't think parents should be investigated every time the public calls for it, but I believe this case warrants cps looking into things.

[Tom Wetmore]

Yes, there are good parents and bad parents. And there are good kids and bad kids. But unfortunately not all good parents have all perfect children and not all bad parents have perpetually misbehaving kids.  And not all good parents show good parenting skills and decisions all the time, and make no mistakes, nor do bad parent consistently always make poor choices and exercise bad parenting skills, no make nothing but mistakes. Same goes for kids - not all good kids are good all the time, make the right choices all the time, obey parents all the time, nor manage to avoid making any mistakes.  Nobody is perfect and nobody is all bad.  People, especially children, are inconsistent and unpredictable. Smart people do stupid things and stupid people succeed sometimes and do smart things. And accidents happen despite reasonable efforts to prevent them.

My point is that judging this mother based on the fragments of information of the whole incident that we see and hear in the media shows unfair and ill-conceive judgment on our part, more than it does anything valid about this mother.  I am very skeptical of anyone who claims their kids (especially people that are not parents) would never do that or that they have fool proof ways of preventing such things from ever happening. That is just another way of indirectly judging this mother as being a bad parent. And it is naive and unrealistic.

 

[Tom Wetmore]

All that said, I think the zoo's changes to the enclosure demonstrate the real weak point and I think a very real cause of the accident that happened.  They are putting a different barrier up.  The design of the enclosure was inherently flawed with an obvious remedy quickly and easily apparent.  The barriers were not child proof, nor child friendly.  The first barrier was just parellel railings with gaps through which a child could easily pass. The next part of the barrier was bushes also with gaps wide enough for a child to pass directly to the edge of the mote. The child unfriendly part of it was that a child could not see the enclosure over or through the barriers, but apparently could easily see a way through them to get to where their curious child judgment could perhaps see, right at the most dangerous point of no return.  Any zoo that designs barriers for their exhibits that a child can get through, which was the case in this situation, is responsible and negligent.  And no zoo exhibit  is designed well, if it doesn't anticipate little people needing to have a clear view without having to climb over or around anything.