A woman was feared dead after being taken by a crocodile following a late night swim with a friend at a beach in northern Australia. Facebook users discussed careless human behaviour while dealing with wild animals. Another case that got attention on social media was that of a gorilla that was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden after a special zoo response team shot and killed it. The 17-year-old gorilla grabbed and dragged a four-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla exhibit moat. A video taken by a visitor to the zoo went viral on social media channels.

Russell Riechmann: “... Swimming on a beach where it has sign after sign warning of crocodiles at ten at night. I’d call that para-suicidal behavior. In some places in the USA it might be called death by misadventure. But it all comes down to death by stupidity.”

Phillip Magpie Zillner: “How silly is going for a swim in crocodile infested water at night...”

Harry Wiggins: “Oh dear. Tragic news from Queensland, Australia today. Having visited and lived just there, I am well aware that swimming in crocodile country is sort of, ‘not very sensible’ and there are signs up everywhere, warning of the danger. Australia is very safe just as long as you can read. My condolences are with the woman’s companions & family.”

Alan Chalmers: “When I went to Australia, I flew into Cairns and on my first day I went Daintree National Park, where this woman is feared dead. Unknowingly, I walked past a gigantic sign 3 feet tall and 10 wide sign warning not to go into the water because of crocodiles. The water was crystal clear and the beach was gorgeous and I couldn’t resist. I walked about 300 feet out and the water was only thigh high. I then heard the yelling of a park ranger who was giving a tour and he was waving arms for me to get out of the water. When I made it back to the beach, a member of the tour said the ranger only minutes before said there is always an idiot who winds up going into the water - I guess that day it was me. As I traveled up the coast, the signs warning of crocodiles were everywhere.”

The Cincinnati Zoo is home to nine western lowland gorillas. According to their offficial facebook page, “There are about 765 gorillas in zoos worldwide including approximately 360 in the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Program (SSP) for this species. Western lowland gorillas are critically-endangered in the wild, with less than 175,000 individuals. Due primarily to habitat destruction caused by logging, mineral mining and agricultural expansion, wild gorilla numbers continue to shrink.”

Social media users largely criticised the parents for being negligent and causing the death of the gorilla,

SwitBeey Skyì: “Just don’t take kids to the zoo if you are negligent full stop! This is so disturbing!ߙ?The moment the gorilla drags the baby makes me sick in my stomach ... poor child!”

Melisza Carter: “It’s so sad! PLEASE watch your children closely at the zoo! A child fell into the jaguar pen here in Little Rock, Arkansas, a year or two ago and they attacked the child!”

Joseph Favre: “I’ve seen a lot of negative, angry, illogical ranting by some about this. I have a four year old and it is my worst fear that something like this could happen to him. I do my very best to monitor him, but there are times he just slips away, it can only take a second. Rather than condemn the mother or even the child (and I’ve seen a lot of nastiness directed at this four year old) let’s be grateful to God that he is safe and that his family is still intact. This was a horrible thing that happened, but let’s ... have more compassion people.”

Charlene Kaprolet‎: “More than 2,000 people signed a petition on Change.org that sharply criticized the Cincinnati Police Department and the zoo for putting down the animal and called for the child’s parents to be ‘held accountable for their actions of not supervising their child’.”