Yeah, I think the gorilla wasn't necessarily going to do anything intentional to harm the child, but such a large animal and such a small child anything could have happened even accidentally. As for the parents being at fault I suppose it has to do with the circumstances. Typically in places like this the public feels like the facility provides some level of safety. If the child could get into the exhibit within a split second as it appears one could then I have a hard time blaming the parents. Unless all parents should be required to put their kids on leashes at all times I don't see how this could be avoided. A parent knows when crossing a street for example to hold the kids hands and protect them, I'm not sure a zoo should fall into that category. It should be absolutely 100% impossible for a 4 year old to get into a gorilla exhibit.
Well, you could also look at it from this point of view... Almost all zoos, or other entertainment complexes like theme parks, have an age limit for admittance without a parent or guardian. Part of that is due to safety concerns. No one anywhere can be 100% ready for something that can go wrong, zoos and theme parks alike. They rely on their own internal safety measures, but likewise they require some measure of supervision on the part of parents who bring young children in. Take for example this: What would the response be if an incident happened at Universal or Disney where an excited child ran out in front of a moving float during a parade and got injured because they wanted to see their favorite character? Would it be the theme parks fault for not having sufficient barriers between the spectators and the parade? Or would it be the fault of the parents who were not properly supervising their child and preventing it from occurring to begin with? There are so many layers to this debate that some people don't realize.
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