Four Year Old Falls Into Gorilla Enclosure

Yesterday at the Cincinnati Zoo a four year old fell into the gorilla enclosure. 

Really, this happened. 

Here's the Cincinnati Enquirer story.

"Cincinnati police and emergency crews responded to a report of a child falling into the exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden at about 4 p.m. Saturday. Police confirmed the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center near the zoo, and was treated for serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Cincinnati Zoo President Thane Maynard said the boy crawled through a barrier and fell an estimated 10 to 12 feet into the moat surrounding the habitat. He said the boy was not seriously injured by the fall.

Maynard said the zoo's 17-year-old male western lowland gorilla, Harambe, grabbed the boy and dragged him around. Two female gorillas were also in the enclosure.

The boy was with the 400-pound animal for about 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team deemed the situation "life-threatening," Maynard said.

"The choice was made to put down, or shoot, Harambe, so he's gone," Maynard said. "We've never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo where a dangerous animal needed to be dispatched in an emergency situation."

The fire department release said the boy was in between the gorilla's legs at the time of the shot."

Here's video of the gorilla grabbing the kid. 

Now tons of people are going to immediately judge the parents here, but I've got three young boys and they move really damn fast. If one of them decided to jump into a zoo enclosure I'd probably be able to keep that from happening, but, I'm gonna be honest, it's also possible one of them could get away from me and end up inside a zoo exhibit if, and this is key, it was possible for a kid to get into the exhibit. 

So how the hell is this even possible?

Meanwhile, tons of people on social media are already getting all worked up over the gorilla getting shot, but this is the right call. A wild animal has a four year old. There's no telling what will happen there, you have to take the gorilla out. (As the article above says, you can't tranquilize him because it takes too long for the tranquilizer to have an impact and how you have no idea how he reacts to being shot before the medicine takes over.) Despite the fact that the zoo made the right decision, over 40,000 people have signed a Facebook petition demanding murder charges be filed for the death of the gorilla. Really. 

By the way, I've actually thought about what would happen if one of my kids fell into the zoo exhibit -- part of being a dad or mom is thinking about how you would respond to awful circumstances -- and my plan every time has been -- if my kid gets in there with the wild animals you have to get in there too. So if one of my kids had gotten into the gorilla exhibit, I'd have jumped in too. (You certainly can't be like this mom, sitting there saying, "Mommy's right here," while the gorilla has your kid. I mean, come on, mom, can you possibly do less? I'm not an expert on the cognitive abilities of four year olds, but I'm pretty sure this four year old isn't thinking, "Gee, I'm glad mom is outside the gorilla cage watching me." He's thinking, "Fuck you, mom, you're out of the cage and a gorilla has me.")  

Also, 100% chance the dad is getting blamed here. I don't even know if the dad had anything to do with it, but number one playbook for mom is, "If your kid falls into the gorilla cage, it's dad's fault." Lots of Monday morning quarterbacking going on anytime a kid gets taken hostage by a wild animal and it's almost always dad getting the blame.

And even though it probably was the dad's fault, I just feel like I should give a shout out to team dad here. Yes, we're occasionally/frequently totally unaware of what our kids are doing, but what's the worst thing that could happen at the zoo? It's not like most kids end up in the gorilla cage. So all in all we're doing a pretty good job watching our kids.

(By the way, one reason I would jump into the gorilla cage if my kid jumped into the gorilla cage? Because it's safer there than being with my wife while our kid was in the gorilla cage. Think about what the rest of this dad's life is going to be like, Dad: "Don't worry, I've got the kids." Mom: "Oh, like you had the kids when Johnny ended up in the gorilla cage?" Rinse, repeat for the next fifty years of his life. The dad might as well have just thrown himself into the crocodile pit on his way out of the zoo. No way he ever recovers from his four year old son in the gorilla cage. 

Speaking of, is there any way a four year old girl ever climbs into the gorilla cage? Boys are born dumb and get dumber once sex comes into play. No way a four year old girl climbs into the gorilla cage. Such a boy move here. Also, every parent reading this right now can tell you which of their sons is most likely to climb into the gorilla cage. Every. Single. One.

Finally, if this is the South odds that one of the zoo patrons pulls out his gun and tries to shoot the gorilla? Different odds in every state, but there's a 100% chance this happens in Texas for sure. You'd have multiple dads just blazing away at the gorilla if this were Dallas, bullets raining off every angle, slamming into the rocks and ricocheting off concrete everywhere, it's like Gorilla Gettysburg.

This is also every gun dude's wet dream. "Kid's taken hostage by a gorilla! Gotta save him. This is exactly what I was thinking might happen when I brought my handgun to the zoo!"

Hell, with Donald Trump as the nominee, the guy who shot the gorilla would probably open the Republican National Convention by saying the pledge of allegiance. Genius political move too. Might swing Ohio.)

Written by
Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021. One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape. Throughout the college football season, Travis is on Big Noon Kickoff for Fox Sports breaking down the game and the latest storylines. Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide. Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions and was on Fox Sports Bet for four years. Additionally, Travis started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports. Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers Too.