Who's to blame for Harambe the Gorilla death?

Mr Jack said:
A zoo should not be a dangerous environment. It's a place to which the public are specifically intended to bring their children and look at animals in safety. Parents should not need to be concerned about their children being eaten at the zoo!
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Absolutely this. And this is why the zoo should be taking 99% of the blame.

We are taught from a very young age about what is a dangerous environment, and what isn't. How often do you see parent's teaching their kids at the side of the road to stop and wait, look, listen etc. You don't do this in a zoo because it is a given that the wild and dangerous animals in there are thoroughly contained and unaccessible. Especially by a 4yr old! You don't see parents at airports saying to their kids "Now mind the planes, they've very dangerous" do you? No, because there's no way a small child could get airside and put themselves in danger.
 
Bigminimus said:
Fences and walls can only do so much. You lock your door at night, yet a burglar, if they really wanted to, can break in.
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That isn't exactly the same thing. Someone who really wants to break into a home, will do.

A zoo has only to protect an enclosure, not a whole house. It's a public place where families are invited. The zoo knows they have dangerous animals in the enclosure. There should have been zero ways for that child to enter the enclosure without the help from an adult.
 
Mr Jack said:
A zoo should not be a dangerous environment. It's a place to which the public are specifically intended to bring their children and look at animals in safety. Parents should not need to be concerned about their children being eaten at the zoo!
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Anywhere is a potentially dangerous environment, and any decent parent should always be concerned about their child's safety and aware of any possible risks :confused:

While this incident has highlighted flaws in the zoo's enclosure design, it also emphasises that need for awareness.

Ultimately it's not someone else's responsibility to look after your kids, its yours.
 
IronWarrior said:
Don't think he was going to hurt or kill the boy, Gorillas are not stupid. It's behaviour was of protecting him.
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Did you only see the video in this thread? If so I suggest you go find unedited video and then make your decision. The boy was being dragged around the enclosure like he was nothing.
 
Spacedeck said:
While I would generally agree with this. It is the Zoo's responsibility to provide a safeand none dangerous environment for customers.
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They did. Unfortunately the boy's parents failed to prevent him from leaving that safe and non-dangerous environment.

I could understand your point if the gorilla had gotten free and grabbed the kid, but lets not forget that the kid willingly circumvented the barriers/safety which was in place - given that he's 4, and therefore unaware of the consequences of his actions, that responsibility should then fall to the parents.

Like I said, I agree that there should have been better barriers in place, but the kid should never have gotten the opportunity to circumvent them in the first place.
 
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It is worth noting that until this incident, it was considered safe for xx years.

I do not think blame accomplishes anything in this situation. The zoo will likely tighten the perimeters of enclosures to prevent idiots or children getting in. Parents have gotten enough stick from social media and the news, so that they will likely not live the incident down while the child is still a child.
 
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StriderX said:
I blame dem cis-white men that have totally ruined our civilisation (apart from creating 99% of it)! :mad::mad::mad:
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White men created the world's most dominant and successful civilisation, but they sure as hell didn't create 99% of civilisation on this planet.
 
Haggisman said:
They did. Unfortunately the boy's parents failed to prevent him from leaving that safe and non-dangerous environment.

I could understand your point if the gorilla had gotten free and grabbed the kid, but lets not forget that the kid willingly circumvented the barriers/safety which was in place - given that he's 4, and therefore unaware of the consequences of his actions, that responsibility should then fall to the parents.

Like I said, I agree that there should have been better barriers in place, but the kid should never have gotten the opportunity to circumvent them in the first place.
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The opportunity also shouldn't have been presented. It can't have been that safe though if a small child was able to get around. It was an oversight from H&S. Had H&S checks discovered that someone small could get around the barrier, they wouldn't have been able to open until the issue was rectified. Just sadly we needed an instant like this before they realise they missed something.


Avenged - just because something had been safe for xx number of years, doesn't make it right if flaws can be found from small vulnerable children. To me, it would suggest the H&S checks wasn't done thoroughly.
 
Spacedeck said:
Avenged - just because something had been safe for xx number of years, doesn't make it right if flaws can be found from small vulnerable children. To me, it would suggest the H&S checks wasn't done thoroughly.
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I dont disagree, what i mean is, playing the blame game in hindsight is very easy. Up until now, they received no notification that the enclosure was unsafe and no one deemed it so.

A child did get in, so technically it is unsafe but blaming the hospital when prior to the incident, no one gave it a second thought is a bit silly. We should learn from this mistake rather than place blame, as the blame will not reinforce the need for safety measures int eh future, the bad publicity from this incident has been enough to do that on its own.
 
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