Our information is that the mother turned away for a few seconds to attend to another one of her young children and that is when the three-year-old was able to climb into the gorilla enclosure.
Advertisement
The zoo’s dangerous-animal response team shot the 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe, after concluding the boy’s life was in danger.
The reopening comes a day after prosecutors announced they would not file charges against the toddler’s mother in the May 28 incident.
Since Harambe’s death, zoo officials are asking the public for helping redoubling its efforts to support gorilla conservation.
“It was shocking to hear something like that happen at this zoo, because we know that they have such good safety measures here”, she said.
Others blame the child’s mother for failing to supervise him adequately.
Mr Deters said he happy with the improvements to the exhibit. The 42-inch fence with “substantial wood” and protective netting is “more than adequate”, “perfectly safe” and typical of what the zoo has throughout most of its exhibits, said the zoo’s executive director, Thane Maynard.
Madison Zortman, center, has her picture taken by her mother Rebekah Ridgeway, bottom left, at the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Cincinnati. “A gorilla is a wild animal and, by definition, unsafe and unpredictable”, he said, echoing sentiments of animal experts who were asked to discuss the incident.
Jacob and Krista Ward went to the zoo on Tuesday with their three children.
According to the prosecutor the boy emerged from the enclosure “unscathed” despite rough handling by the gorilla.
The family said that Deters’ decision “is one more step in allowing us to put this tragic episode behind us”.
Deter also noted that anyone who believed a three-year-old could not “scamper off very quickly” has never had kids. “Their caretakers have been telling us that they’re fine, but seeing them go about their usual routine this morning made all of us feel better”, said Maynard.
Advertisement
Maynard says the zoo is cooperating with an ongoing USDA investigation. An animal protection group is pushing for the examination.
