4yo falls into Cincy zoo gorilla enclosure - gorilla shot

[churchmouse]

Yeah but with the outcry from the zoo shooting the gorilla and all of the media attention, I think a regular person would be up to their neck in poo. There would be statements made about how the zoo itself has contingency plans to handle such a situation, that the gorilla could have been possibly spared instead of being shot ( like some claim now), and not to mention the person carrying would be doing so illegally ( unless they were on-duty law enforcement). I understand the feeling of wanting to protect the child but there are situations where trying to be a good guy makes you a bad guy.

Agreed.
The outcry for the silverback over the child is somewhat disconcerting to me.
It is just another example of how off course the ship is.

 

[greg]

FULL VIDEO: Boy falls into Gorilla World exhibit at Cincinnati Zoo | Local News - WLWT Home

Here is a video that shows most of what happens......You can hear Mom also

 

[longbow]

Was dart zoo employees or the police? I don't think the Indy zoo would take that long to respond.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Some times we have to get a little poo on our hands............

i believe the phrase is "mud on the tires", but I'm not going to tell you how to live

 

[Denny347]

Yeah, we discussed the probability of our issued .40 ammo being effective against the gorilla, or any other wild animal larger than a dog for that matter. Even if you can't kill it, perhaps a shot to the face/head would change its channel enough to get it to leave the kid alone. Hard to say what I would do in that situation without actually being there, but I would have a hard time just watching.

It would be hard to watch of course but even if I was carrying my G22 off-duty (which I never do), I cannot say that I know enough about great apes to know if I would be helping or hurting the little boy by taking action. I could just wound the beast, **** it off, and it pummels the kids to death as a result, a likely outcome. I couldn't live with myself after that and I'll be up to my neck in litigation. The zoo uses big game calibers for a reason. Handguns are not great at stopping humans, I would guess they are **** poor at stopping a gorilla. The vast majority carry off-duty guns which have a shortened sight radius, limited capacity, and/or smaller caliber, so interveining would likely be out of the question.

 

[churchmouse]

i believe the phrase is "mud on the tires", but I'm not going to tell you how to live

Understood but just saying....it would be so hard not to at least try.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing, but that doesn't mean nothing isn't the right answer.

 

[hopper68]

I have seen this story used as a reason to close all zoos and return the animals to the wild. I refuse to link P---

 

[churchmouse]

I have seen this story used as a reason to close all zoos and return the animals to the wild. I refuse to link P---

Putting animals "Over" humans.

I understand but if we return them they will be killed/poached and be gone forever.

 

[Leadeye]

Coming from an agricultural background I can say that a well placed 22lr can drop a steer or hog in it's tracks, I don't know anything about gorillas but wouldn't imagine the skull is any thicker than a steer's. Bad incident all round, but the zoo staff did the right thing as in my experience you can't predict the behavior of animals for certain, even ones that you are familiar with. People should watch their kids better.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I wonder if the DART team is stationed in Demotte

 

[bwframe]

Predicting wild animal behavior successfully is just as likely as getting parents to actually parent.

 

[Hookeye]

Guess I better go shopping for a Zoo gun....Smith 329PD, proly run 265gr at wow level.

 

[femurphy77]

I understand the reasoning behind killing the gorilla, the family should be billed for ALL related costs.

 

[hoosierdoc]

This gorilla had 175,000 relatives but is described as rare and critically endangered. Huh.

 

[Hookeye]

Meanwhile, Chicago may set a record in weekend shootings/killings.............


talk about a freakin' zoo!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Coming from an agricultural background I can say that a well placed 22lr can drop a steer or hog in it's tracks, I don't know anything about gorillas but wouldn't imagine the skull is any thicker than a steer's.

Well, you got me curious.

I don't know that it's any thicker, but it's got a lot more angles and a protective brow ridge. Even if you were confident enough to take a head shot at a moving creature from whatever distance involved under the stress of the situation, it appears to me it would need to be from the side or top. Through the face looks like a real ask of any duty round to get to the brain.

I also don't know if the injury or death of one gorilla would make the others in the enclosure go...bananas...and increase the danger or require even more of them to be put down to affect any sort of rescue.

 

[Leadeye]

Good point and research. Farm animal shots were at fairly stationary targets and under no stress, just a prelude butchering an animal that was troublesome, aim frontal and just above the eyes with a Nylon 66. The crest and brow ridges look like they would be trouble for a 22lr, looks like the best shot would be from the side.

Was pulled over by a CO back in the 70s driving around the back roads with my 66 in the truck, he called that rifle the "poachers friend". Said more game animals were taken illegally with 22lr than any other cartridge.

Would rep you again for the "bananas" comment, still laughing from the first one.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

The Zoo's website states that no firearms are allowed on the property, not sure if they have signs posted. I would say you would be up **** creek even if you had the kid's best interest at heart.

I was just there in April and was armed. I don't advertise. And like CM said, sometimes you just have to get a little poo on your hands.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

When I worked at the Indianapolis Zoo I was on good terms with one of the guys trained on the Zoo's weapons. I was not allowed to see them, and the arms were not names or calibers with which I was familiar. From my conversations with him I was under the impression that the Zoo had an action plan and adequate equipment to immediately terminate any animal in the collection, which (at the time) included horses and camels, lions and tigers, polar and kodiak bears, and elephants.

Like I said, I never got to see the guns, but I always wondered what they would use.

The Indianapolis Zoo is not directly municipally funded, it is a private Zoological Society, so the budget is always a struggle. When I was there we always had good equipment, but it wasn't always the flashiest or newest stuff. I imagine the same would be true for the armory.

I was at the range one time when the Indy zoo people were there practicing with the rifles. I don't remember the specific calibers, but they were very impressive.