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Gorilla Exhibit

Oct 12, 2009
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18,698
East Central Florida
Didn't want to railroad a different thread so I start this new one.

Has anyone ever see the gorillas climb down into the very very deep moats in AK. I never saw it happen as I always believed the walls were too steep. It appears that other zoos have far shallower moats that allow the gorillas to climb down into them which seems less than ideal.

Here's the most recent news article: Cincinnati zoo kills gorilla to save child - CNN.com
 
Glad you posted this.

It's been all over the news here in the UK, So so sad for Harambe (the Gorilla). When I first heard it this morning I was still half asleep, I thought hmmm they should have shot the kid instead as we have plenty of them and I assumed it was the kids fault.

Once I saw the full story I quickly changed my mind and decided it should have been the parents who should have got shot as that kid was only a minor and they should have been looking out for him. In the end the por Gorilla lost it's life for doing nothing more than going about his usual business, such a great shame.

I also feel for the team who had to make the decision and pull the trigger, very sad affair all round really.
 
Parents were probably on their phone. Walk around anywhere, no one watches their kids anymore because everyone is on their phone.
I feel sad for the gorilla as well, I did not see the video, but from what I heard he was moving the kid, so who knows, maybe he was protecting the kid.
 
Parents were probably on their phone. Walk around anywhere, no one watches their kids anymore because everyone is on their phone.
I feel sad for the gorilla as well, I did not see the video, but from what I heard he was moving the kid, so who knows, maybe he was protecting the kid.

The kid was in with the gorilla for around 10mins, on the video's I've seen he never once looked like harming the boy, at one point he even seems to help him up be the seat of his pants.

I agree that he could well have been protecting the kid and would have been interested to see how it played out without the gorilla getting shot, 400lb gorilla and a 4 year old kid was far too much of a gamble to wait and see though, unfortunately.
 
What is odd about it is the very short video clip I saw the gorilla looked more like he was protecting the boy than hurting him. Ooops... the boy was injured, but that was probably more from the fall.

^^ We both thought the same thing at the same time.
 
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What also bothers me is that they did not use tranquilizer darts. (Or did they?)
They are so majestic really. Whenever I go to BGT I always go and see them.
 
What also bothers me is that they did not use tranquilizer darts. (Or did they?)
They are so majestic really. Whenever I go to BGT I always go and see them.

They did say tranquilizer was't an option as it isn't instant and can take minutes to take effect.

I suppose on top of that a sharp dart in the gorillas butt could have swayed him to change mood and maybe turn aggressive.
 
What also bothers me is that they did not use tranquilizer darts. (Or did they?)
They are so majestic really. Whenever I go to BGT I always go and see them.

I hear you. I believe they were concerned about the gorilla lashing out at the sudden dart.

Too, with my cat, docs gave me tranqs so I could clip his nails, but they warned me that they might have the opposite effect driving him catnip bonkers.
 
Here is a similar story from 30 years ago, in this case the gorilla did indeed protect the boy who fell into the pit. Fascinating to watch.

 
Crazy how those guys got in the pit to help the boy, at one point fending one of with a small stick. A far cry from Cincinnati's incident.

I also find it uncanny that the gorillas involved in the two incidents were called Jambo and Harambe.
 
Crazy how those guys got in the pit to help the boy, at one point fending one of with a small stick. A far cry from Cincinnati's incident.

Well, it is commonly known that you Brits drink at play and on the job. They were probably knocking down whiskey while they cleaned cages backstage. Plus, Brit judgement is a bit impaired due to inbreeding. ;)
 
I was trying to be funny... :doh:

I know buddy, I too was trying to be funny LOL

Lee Evans Quote


Lee Evans
“We don't get telly round our way, sir! Yeah, we hang you buggers round our way, we do... No, we all came on the same coach, sir... Norwich, that's us, sir. There's a bloke on the fifth row going You're gonna die now, sir, you are!”
―Lee Evans

Read more at We don't get telly round our way, sir! Yeah, we hang you buggers round our way, we do... No, we all came on the same...
 
Hmmm... just saw an extended piece on this with more video. No tranq dart due to possibility of agitation. The gorilla did drag the boy around violently like a duffle bag by the leg. So... how could the kid have gotten in there? I cannot recall the railings in AK. I believe they use hefty nets or mesh for the open air tiger views. Pisser.

My mother used a body harness and leash on me as a kid. I was nothing but trouble.
 
[/QUOTE="Teebin, post: 463850, member: 1156"]Hmmm... just saw an extended piece on this with more video. No tranq dart due to possibility of agitation. The gorilla did drag the boy around violently like a duffle bag by the leg. So... how could the kid have gotten in there? I cannot recall the railings in AK. I believe they use hefty nets or mesh for the open air tiger views. Pisser.

My mother used a body harness and leash on me as a kid. I was nothing but trouble.[/QUOTE]

Just watched extended clips and even though I knew the boy was OK it was still shocking to watch, the boy was very lucky.

Gorilla killed after 4-year-old falls into zoo enclosure

I guess an inquiry will eventually show how he managed to into the enclosure and maybe we will see more stringent rules and regulations for railings around these kind of animal exhibit pits in the future.

[/QUOTE="Teebin] I was nothing but trouble.[/QUOTE] Nothing changed there then :dance:
 
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They had a somewhat similar incident at the Pittsburgh Zoo a couple of years ago. The idiot parents put their little kid up on the ledge wall so he could see better, didn't hold him, and he fell in and got mauled by wild dogs. Amazingly they sued the zoo and got an award of a few million. The parents should have been jailed imo.
 
Hmmm... just saw an extended piece on this with more video. No tranq dart due to possibility of agitation. The gorilla did drag the boy around violently like a duffle bag by the leg. So... how could the kid have gotten in there? I cannot recall the railings in AK. I believe they use hefty nets or mesh for the open air tiger views. Pisser.

My mother used a body harness and leash on me as a kid. I was nothing but trouble.
I'd venture to bet that Universal Creative would like to use a body harness & leash on you to keep track of your movements now. :)
 
Yikes! I never saw this happen at Animal Kingdom, which this is.

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This ain't going to do the trick in hindsight. It needs 10 feet of wire mesh.

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