Who Is to Blame When a Child Enters a Gorilla Exhibit?

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DiracPool
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DiracPool
Investigative reporter
Seattle, Wa

Check this out:



It was an unfortunate and tragic accident, but in my opinion, it was still just an accident. Now we have everyone calling for the heads of not only the zoo officials but also the heads of the parents of the the 4 year old that crawled into the exhibit:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/29/us/cincinnati-zoo-gorilla-shot/

One thing the Gorillas have over us is that it isn't necessarily in their nature to try to find cause and blame for every single thing that happens in life. Human's really seem to be genetically programmed to point their fingers at everything around them and assign blame. But sometimes, accidents just happen. What do you think? I'm a part-time primatologist (not field, but research), and I abhor the death of Harambe, but I think the right decision was made by the zoo ERT.

Here's an interesting press conference by the zoo's director, https://www.facebook.com/videos_by

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...ital-after-falling-into-gorilla-pen/85095094/
 
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fresh_42
dry-nosed primate
Germany

It has been in the news here, too. I can't understand all the excitement. The baby belongs to the by far more aggressive and dangerous species than the gorilla. Why should he have reacted different from how we would have the other way round? After all the silver back is our uncle.
 
Dirac pool
Concerned citizen and avid zoo-goer
Seattle, Wa

fresh_42 said:
It has been in the news here, too. I can't understand all the excitement. The baby belongs to the by far more aggressive and dangerous species than the gorilla. Why should he have reacted different from how we would have the other way round? After all the silver back is our uncle.

Well, for starters, I don't think we would have reacted by dragging the child through the moat like King Kong. Yes, we are far more aggressive and dangerous than Gorillas but we are much less unpredictable in a similar circumstance.