A 17-year-old gorilla was put down yesterday in Cincinnati after a 4-year-old boy fell into its encloure. The boy was with his mom who was tending to a group of children right before falling into a stream that was a part of the gorilla’s habitat.
The mom now claims that ‘accidents happen’ and people shouldn’t judge her. Michelle Gregg said, wrote on her Facebook page:
‘As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids.
‘Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today.’
A special zoo response team shot and killed Harambe after he grabbed the four-year-old at Cincinnati Zoo, in the United States, and dragged him around for ten minutes.
The boy apparently slipped through a fence and fell some 15 feet to a shallow pool in Harambe’s enclosure. Video shot by another zoo visitor showed Harambe dragging the boy like a doll through the water from one end of the habitat to another.
The child was released from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center on Saturday night, hours after the 15ft fall.