On 31 August 1986, five-year-old Levan Merritt fell into the gorilla enclosure and lost consciousness. Jambo stood guard over the boy when he was unconscious, placing himself between the boy and other gorillas in what ethologists analyze as a protective gesture. He later stroked the unconscious boy’s back.
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- Tarquinn2049@lemmy.worldEnglish40 seconds
The trouble and difference with the Harambe situation is that he was disobeying his handlers and riled up by what he thought was a crowd angry at the kid. So he wouldn’t let go of the kid, and would have likely been defensive if handlers tried to come in and get the kid. He also was large enough that if they tranquilized him, he could have easily crushed the kid just by slowly passing out on him. They unfortunately had to take the only guarantee they had and shoot him at a moment when he was far enough from the kid that he wouldn’t fall on him.
Nobody wants to kill a zoo animal. Especially not beloved ones. Especially while they are trying to be nice.
- ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.worldEnglish4 hours
IIRC this happened in Illinois as well. A female gorilla who had babies in the past picked up the boy, took him to the door to the enclosure, and patiently waited to hand him over to the zookeepers.
5 hours“Most of the incident was recorded on home video and extensively photographed by zoo visitors.”
Which is why we’re not posting a single picture of the incident in this article.
- homes@piefed.worldEnglish5 hours
I remember this. I was, like, seven years old at the time. It was all over the news. I remember it made my mom cry.
- Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.worldEnglish2 hours
mom crying
“Why are you crying, mom?”
“I ju-hu-hu-hu-ust wanted to see a gorilla rip that boy to shreds!!! Is that so much to ask???”
mom runs off to her room crying
