I have been legally married for over 25 years. My spouse and I do not share the same last name. Anything further I’d have to say on that subject belongs in the Pit so I’ll restrain myself here.
I’ll join ya Broomstick…I’m 19 years in and likewise our names are still different.
We’ve got y’all beat, we’re living in sin. Sweet, nasty, sweaty sin.
No, no secondary containment wire fence.
(Bolding mine)
Let us review:
He climbed over a 3 foot railing, ran about 4 feet, and fell 15 feet into a moat with a bit of water in it that is part of the gorillas’ enclosure, attached on the gorilla side by a ladder.
Just for some context for those who state that 38 years of the same enclosure (apparently never major safety updates in that time despite major advances in technology and ) is proof of its adequacy …
On the medical side of adverse outcome there are what are called “never events” - which as the name implies are events that should literally never occur if they do are sentinal occurences that your system likley has a fundamental flaw that needs repair. These are things like a sponge left inside a patient, wrong side surgery, etc. Yes they occur more than never.
When that happens the immediate responses must be:
This is a never event.
That’s seriously lacking compared to some of the zoos I have been to. I’d love to hear the chatter amongst zoo people around the world.
Once a child was in the gorilla’s enclosure, being manhandled, the only thing to do was kill the gorilla. THAT decision doesn’t trouble me.
But ANY zoo setup that allows a little kid to get into that enclosure is unforgivably flawed. Whoever designed the enclosure HAD to have known huge numbers of little kids would be attending the zoo every day, and shouldn’t have allowed for any possibility of a kid getting in.
Absolutely. I haven’t seen anyone say that the zoo should not now fix the weakness(es) that this boy exploited to get in.
The fundamental philosophy of root cause analysis in a medical context, at least as it was taught by me, is that it is not done in order to assign “blame,” and to punish transgressors. Rather it was developed as a system specifically to try to avoid blame and punishment, and focus on fixing the problems present within the system.
I’m all for using RCA to fix this. I’m less fond of the blame game, particularly by armchair quarterbacks who are suddenly experts in everything from tranquilizer darts to gorilla behavior.
They can put up glass or plexiglass barriers. Wouldn’t surprise me if it costs millions. Maybe they just close it down and build an entirely new exhibit. That costs many millions of dollars. That’s millions of dollars taken away from all the other zoo animals and programs, and I’m already highly dubious about their “conservation” efforts. I’ve also read of studies that show most people spend about 30 seconds to a minute in front of each exhibit and rarely read whatever educational info might be posted. The educational aspect is suspect. Most people are much better educated by watching animal documentaries on TV. Harambe was born and raised in captivity purely for amusement and any offspring of his will spend their lives in captivity for people’s amusement and not a single one will ever be reintroduced to the wild.
Maybe mommy and daddy will donate the proceeds of their lawsuit to the zoo to pay for barriers. Hahahahaha.
They already had plans for a very expensive overhaul of the gorilla habitat.
Does anyone ever read anymore. There are so many psychics here.
…
And now they’ll have less money. Does anyone think around here anymore? So many dreamers who think zoos print money with magic.
Gorilla Lives Matter.
The zoo needs to teach the gorillas the sign language for "Paws Up! Don’t Shoot!’
Regards,
Shodan
The problem with this analogy is that it ignores that surgery patients are without agency in the situation, utterly at the mercy of the doctors. Any bad decisions, any failure of care, has to belong exclusively to the doctors.
In the case of zoos, it is certainly reasonable to hold the zoo accountable for controlling the animals. Visiting people have to have some responsibility for their own actions.
Also, he pushed through the bushes between the railing and the drop before the moat. Probably those bushes were not as dense and thorny as they could have been. Otherwise, I see no flaws here.
Huge numbers of kids walk on sidewalks and ride on subways to get to zoos every day. Shockingly, there are no barriers at all keeping them from plunging in front of the cars and trains. :rolleyes:
I take it you did not see the Zoo safety guidelines I posted upthread that made the to me sensible point that warnings and barriers are not exclusive:
Where was the “barrier which would be capable of restraining children from falling” in this case?
This is absolutely correct. However, it is unfortunately not all that uncommon for 4-year-old kids to be killed because they plunged in front of fast-moving cars and trains. These don’t make the national news because of their unfortunate lack of rarity.
The legal concept you may be looking for here is “Res ipsa loquitur” (or, “the thing speaks for itself”).
If a 4 year old child is able to defeat your safety precautions, those precautions are arguably, by definition, inadequate from a negligence POV, as the barrier ought to have been designed and built so that 4 year olds can’t get through it.
The fault for this lies squarely with the mother. A 4 year old should not be able or allowed to run freely in any venue - even Walmart - but especially not in a crowded park where there is real danger, not just from ‘falling into random enclosures’ but in getting lost, taken (worst case) or a number of other things that can reasonably happen.
The zoo has taken reasonable precautions to prevent and make it clear to ‘not’ enter the area - as others have said, the child had to crawl under railings, thru bushes and then over a concrete barrier - this take intent, and while the child certainly intended to do it, was not truly responsible for his own stupidity or understanding of the results of his actions.
That lies squarely again with his guardian, his mother.
I understand that mother’s get overwhelmed - and things happen - but that does not reduce her responsibility in this matter.
I applaud the zoo for making the only decision this mother left them with - the destruction of the Gorilla to save the child. While its not a tough call from a ‘save the child’ aspect, its a heart wrenching call from the caretakers side.
OSHA requirements for a fall protection barrier guarding a drop of more than four feet are for the top rail to be 42" inches from ground height and having a mid-rail and a toe board. Three feet wouldn’t pass that standard.
A road is not billed as a family recreational attraction venue; it lacks an entrance fee.
Shockingly, different standards apply to different situations.
The fence! No one is ever going over that edge because of an inadvertent false step. A much higher safety standard than the public sidewalks and train platforms.