“By all accounts, this mother did not act in any way where she presented this child to some harm”, Deters said in a press conference, noting that he has received hundreds of emails about the incident.
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The previous barrier at Cincinnati Zoo passed repeated inspections by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, but is now 42 inches high, with solid wood beams at the top and bottom, and knotted rope netting at the bottom. “But I was hoping this case would make a difference, and I think it is a case that will make a difference”.
A new, higher barrier has been installed around the Gorilla World exhibit. The mother visited the zoo with four children, including the 3-year-old, Deters’ office said in a news release. Two are 20-year-old females who were grouped with Harambe.
The zoo built the new barrier to add another layer of protection to prevent the public from accessing the gorilla habitat, which now also has new surveillance cameras.
As an alternative to traditional zoos or other efforts that include captivity and killing of animals, some conservationists are focusing on larger, open-air sanctuaries, as Jessica Mendoza reported for The Christian Science Monitor in February. “All it takes is a split second for a kid to get away”. The exhibit will have a new barrier that will make it more hard for the public to get into the habitat, CNN News reports.
The gorilla’s death set off a torrent of criticism online.
A witness to the incident recalls the boy telling his mother he was going into the moat.
“The little boy himself had already been talking about wanting to go in, go in, get in the water and his mother is like, ‘No you’re not, no you’re not, ‘ ” said Kimberley Ann Perkins O’Connor.
“Why are we in a situation in which the choice has to be made between a highly endangered animal and a 4-year-old child?” Tears over the tragedy quickly turned to anger against the zoo staff for shooting the gorilla and against the child’s mother for letting the boy out of her sight. In a Facebook post the day after the incident, Gregg provided some context around what happened, and said “accidents happen”.
Losing Harambe – or any other zoo animal – is like losing a family member, Maynard told this news outlet when the exhibit re-opened.
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The zoo’s actions will be reviewed by the USA department of agriculture.
