Human carelessness around wild animals

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.

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!”

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’.”