Hideous
May 29th, 2016, 10:34 AM
Cameron Knight and Mallorie Sullivan, 11:18 a.m. EDT May 29, 2016
Vo-3RULsZ2E
A holiday weekend outing at Cincinnati's zoo turned doubly tragic Saturday when a 4-year-old boy was hospitalized after falling into a gorilla enclosure - and zoo workers had to kill the rare gorilla to protect the boy.
Cincinnati police and emergency crews responded to a report of a child falling into the exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden at about 4 p.m. Saturday. Police confirmed the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center near the zoo, and was treated for serious injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening.
Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said the boy crawled through a barrier and fell an estimated 10 to 12 feet into the moat surrounding the habitat. He said the boy was not seriously injured by the fall.
The Cincinnati Fire Department reported in a press release that first responders "witnessed a gorilla who was violently dragging and throwing the child."
Maynard said the zoo's 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla, Harambe, grabbed the boy and dragged him around. Two female gorillas were also in the enclosure.
The boy was with the 400-pound animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation "life-threatening," Maynard said.
"The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he's gone," Maynard said. "We've never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation."
The fire department release said the boy was in between the gorilla's legs at the time of the shot.
Maynard said the Dangerous Animal Response Team followed procedures, which they practice in drills. He said in the 38-year history of the zoo's gorilla exhibit that they've never had anyone get into the enclosure.
After the gorilla was shot, zoo employees unlocked the gate and two firefighters quickly retrieved the child, according to the fire department.
"It's a sad day all the way around," Maynard said. "They made a tough choice. They made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life. It could have been very bad."
Brittany Nicely of Dayton was visiting the zoo with her two children and four other children on Saturday. They were at Gorilla World when the incident took place.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little boy in the bushes past the little fence area. I tried to grab for him. I started yelling at him to come back," Nicely said.
"Everybody started screaming and going crazy," she said. "It happened so fast."
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cje0uFHWEAEE7nR.jpg
Nicely said the gorilla rushed toward the boy and led him by the arm through the water in the enclosure. She said initially the gorilla seemed protective and only alarmed by all the screaming.
The area was then evacuated by zoo staff. Nicely stood with her group outside the exhibit.
"About four or five minutes later we heard the gunshot," she said. "We were pretty distraught. All the kids were crying."
Nicely said she spent the whole trip home explaining why they are told to stay close and not run at the zoo.
"That could have been them," she said. "Something like that could have happened. It's a very traumatizing experience for anybody involved. The kids, the zookeepers, the other gorillas that now don't have him there any more."
News of the incident triggered huge social media response. A video posted by the Enquirer had been viewed about 71,000 times at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Many commenters criticized the parents of the boy for not watching him more closely. A Facebook group called Justice for Harambe was created and gathered more than 100 "likes" in less than two hours.
"This page was created to raise awareness of Harambe's murder on 5/28/16," the page states. "We wish to see charges brought against those responsible!"
Lt. Steve Saunders, the spokesman for the Cincinnati Police Department, said no charges were being pursued against the child's parents.
The decision to shoot Harambe instead of tranquilizing was made in the interest of the boy's safety, Maynard said.
"In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect," he explained, "At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response. You don't hit him and he falls over."
Maynard also explained that while Harambe didn't attack the child, the animal's size and strength posed a great danger.
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d044ed8b0f44446a6d5d18c3eb9afdf70fb0537a/c=0-125-2932-2330&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2016/05/29/Cincinnati/Cincinnati/636001135966205385-Harambe1.jpg
Read more at: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/28/police-child-taken-hospital-after-falling-into-gorilla-pen/85095094/
________________________________________________________________________________ ________
Update
Outrage Grows After Gorilla Harambe Shot Dead at Cincinnati Zoo to Save Tot
by ELISHA FIELDSTADT
Animal rights activists continued to protest Monday over the death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo who was fatally shot so authorities could rescue a child who had fallen into the animal's enclosure.
A change.org petition called for the parents of the 3-year-old boy to be held responsible for the death of Harambe, a 17-year-old male Western lowland silverback gorilla.
The petition had garnered more than 138,000 signatures by Monday afternoon. Cincinnati police, however, said they had no intention of charging the family because they don't believe a crime was committed.
Meanwhile, mourners attended a vigil for the ape, and the hashtag #JusticeForHarambe trended on Facebook.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cjo89OgWgAE10Y7.jpg
'Memorial at statue outside @CincinnatiZoo after Harambe was shot and killed there Sat. http://bit.ly/1XGV3dy' @WLWT on Twitter
The family of the 3-year-old released a statement Sunday night acknowledging the zoo's loss and thanking its staff for their "quick action." The boy was home safe and "doing just fine," the statement said.
The animal rights group PETA criticized the Cincinnati Zoo for not having a second protective barrier around the gorilla habitat, and argued that wild animals shouldn't be housed at zoos in the first place.
http://i.imgur.com/dVbmkBa.jpg
"Even under the 'best' circumstances, captivity is never acceptable for gorillas or other primates, and in cases like this, it's even deadly," PETA said in a statement. "This tragedy is exactly why PETA urges families to stay away from any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at."
Julia Gallucci, a primatologist with PETA, also said in the statement that the gorilla was likely trying to nurture the tot.
"Gorillas have shown that they can be protective of smaller living beings and react the same way any human would to a child in danger," Gallucci said.
A visitor who recorded the harrowing moments after a the boy fell into the gorilla exhibit said Sunday that the hulking ape did, in fact, appear to be trying to protect him from the panicking group of onlookers.
The video shows Harambe place his paw on the child before the boy inches back. Harambe gently nudges the boy toward him and then tugs on the back of his pants.
In a separate part of the video, the 450-pound gorilla stands over the boy on all fours.
"I don't know if the screaming did it or too many people hanging on the edge, if he thought we were coming in, but then he pulled the boy down away further from the big group," Kim O'Connor, who shot the video, told NBC station WLWT.
But in two other parts of the footage, Harambe can be seen dragging the toddler through the water in gorilla enclosure's moat. And Cincinnati Fire Chief Marc Monahan said Saturday that first responders saw the gorilla "dragging and throwing the child."
http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2016_22/1557611/selectedimage_9cd430eaacbb1a5696931fbe189605ba.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.png
The Cincinnati Zoo gorilla exhibit remained closed on Monday.
"The Zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life," Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said.
Maynard said Harambe wasn't tranquilized because the drugs could have taken a while to become effective in an animal of Harambe's size.
Maynard said "the right choice was made" but expressed remorse that the Western lowland silverback, a critically endangered species, had to be killed.
"The zoo's in the business of taking care of endangered animals, and we don't want to be in the situation in which they have to be killed," Maynard said at a news conference Saturday. "Harambe was a good guy."
The Cincinnati Zoo was open over the holiday weekend, but the gorilla exhibit remained closed.
Read the article at: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/outrage-grows-after-gorilla-harambe-shot-dead-cincinnati-zoo-save-n582706?cid=sm_fb
Vo-3RULsZ2E
A holiday weekend outing at Cincinnati's zoo turned doubly tragic Saturday when a 4-year-old boy was hospitalized after falling into a gorilla enclosure - and zoo workers had to kill the rare gorilla to protect the boy.
Cincinnati police and emergency crews responded to a report of a child falling into the exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden at about 4 p.m. Saturday. Police confirmed the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center near the zoo, and was treated for serious injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening.
Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said the boy crawled through a barrier and fell an estimated 10 to 12 feet into the moat surrounding the habitat. He said the boy was not seriously injured by the fall.
The Cincinnati Fire Department reported in a press release that first responders "witnessed a gorilla who was violently dragging and throwing the child."
Maynard said the zoo's 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla, Harambe, grabbed the boy and dragged him around. Two female gorillas were also in the enclosure.
The boy was with the 400-pound animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation "life-threatening," Maynard said.
"The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he's gone," Maynard said. "We've never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation."
The fire department release said the boy was in between the gorilla's legs at the time of the shot.
Maynard said the Dangerous Animal Response Team followed procedures, which they practice in drills. He said in the 38-year history of the zoo's gorilla exhibit that they've never had anyone get into the enclosure.
After the gorilla was shot, zoo employees unlocked the gate and two firefighters quickly retrieved the child, according to the fire department.
"It's a sad day all the way around," Maynard said. "They made a tough choice. They made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life. It could have been very bad."
Brittany Nicely of Dayton was visiting the zoo with her two children and four other children on Saturday. They were at Gorilla World when the incident took place.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little boy in the bushes past the little fence area. I tried to grab for him. I started yelling at him to come back," Nicely said.
"Everybody started screaming and going crazy," she said. "It happened so fast."
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cje0uFHWEAEE7nR.jpg
Nicely said the gorilla rushed toward the boy and led him by the arm through the water in the enclosure. She said initially the gorilla seemed protective and only alarmed by all the screaming.
The area was then evacuated by zoo staff. Nicely stood with her group outside the exhibit.
"About four or five minutes later we heard the gunshot," she said. "We were pretty distraught. All the kids were crying."
Nicely said she spent the whole trip home explaining why they are told to stay close and not run at the zoo.
"That could have been them," she said. "Something like that could have happened. It's a very traumatizing experience for anybody involved. The kids, the zookeepers, the other gorillas that now don't have him there any more."
News of the incident triggered huge social media response. A video posted by the Enquirer had been viewed about 71,000 times at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Many commenters criticized the parents of the boy for not watching him more closely. A Facebook group called Justice for Harambe was created and gathered more than 100 "likes" in less than two hours.
"This page was created to raise awareness of Harambe's murder on 5/28/16," the page states. "We wish to see charges brought against those responsible!"
Lt. Steve Saunders, the spokesman for the Cincinnati Police Department, said no charges were being pursued against the child's parents.
The decision to shoot Harambe instead of tranquilizing was made in the interest of the boy's safety, Maynard said.
"In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect," he explained, "At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response. You don't hit him and he falls over."
Maynard also explained that while Harambe didn't attack the child, the animal's size and strength posed a great danger.
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d044ed8b0f44446a6d5d18c3eb9afdf70fb0537a/c=0-125-2932-2330&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2016/05/29/Cincinnati/Cincinnati/636001135966205385-Harambe1.jpg
Read more at: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/28/police-child-taken-hospital-after-falling-into-gorilla-pen/85095094/
________________________________________________________________________________ ________
Update
Outrage Grows After Gorilla Harambe Shot Dead at Cincinnati Zoo to Save Tot
by ELISHA FIELDSTADT
Animal rights activists continued to protest Monday over the death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo who was fatally shot so authorities could rescue a child who had fallen into the animal's enclosure.
A change.org petition called for the parents of the 3-year-old boy to be held responsible for the death of Harambe, a 17-year-old male Western lowland silverback gorilla.
The petition had garnered more than 138,000 signatures by Monday afternoon. Cincinnati police, however, said they had no intention of charging the family because they don't believe a crime was committed.
Meanwhile, mourners attended a vigil for the ape, and the hashtag #JusticeForHarambe trended on Facebook.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cjo89OgWgAE10Y7.jpg
'Memorial at statue outside @CincinnatiZoo after Harambe was shot and killed there Sat. http://bit.ly/1XGV3dy' @WLWT on Twitter
The family of the 3-year-old released a statement Sunday night acknowledging the zoo's loss and thanking its staff for their "quick action." The boy was home safe and "doing just fine," the statement said.
The animal rights group PETA criticized the Cincinnati Zoo for not having a second protective barrier around the gorilla habitat, and argued that wild animals shouldn't be housed at zoos in the first place.
http://i.imgur.com/dVbmkBa.jpg
"Even under the 'best' circumstances, captivity is never acceptable for gorillas or other primates, and in cases like this, it's even deadly," PETA said in a statement. "This tragedy is exactly why PETA urges families to stay away from any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at."
Julia Gallucci, a primatologist with PETA, also said in the statement that the gorilla was likely trying to nurture the tot.
"Gorillas have shown that they can be protective of smaller living beings and react the same way any human would to a child in danger," Gallucci said.
A visitor who recorded the harrowing moments after a the boy fell into the gorilla exhibit said Sunday that the hulking ape did, in fact, appear to be trying to protect him from the panicking group of onlookers.
The video shows Harambe place his paw on the child before the boy inches back. Harambe gently nudges the boy toward him and then tugs on the back of his pants.
In a separate part of the video, the 450-pound gorilla stands over the boy on all fours.
"I don't know if the screaming did it or too many people hanging on the edge, if he thought we were coming in, but then he pulled the boy down away further from the big group," Kim O'Connor, who shot the video, told NBC station WLWT.
But in two other parts of the footage, Harambe can be seen dragging the toddler through the water in gorilla enclosure's moat. And Cincinnati Fire Chief Marc Monahan said Saturday that first responders saw the gorilla "dragging and throwing the child."
http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2016_22/1557611/selectedimage_9cd430eaacbb1a5696931fbe189605ba.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.png
The Cincinnati Zoo gorilla exhibit remained closed on Monday.
"The Zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life," Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said.
Maynard said Harambe wasn't tranquilized because the drugs could have taken a while to become effective in an animal of Harambe's size.
Maynard said "the right choice was made" but expressed remorse that the Western lowland silverback, a critically endangered species, had to be killed.
"The zoo's in the business of taking care of endangered animals, and we don't want to be in the situation in which they have to be killed," Maynard said at a news conference Saturday. "Harambe was a good guy."
The Cincinnati Zoo was open over the holiday weekend, but the gorilla exhibit remained closed.
Read the article at: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/outrage-grows-after-gorilla-harambe-shot-dead-cincinnati-zoo-save-n582706?cid=sm_fb