Mother of boy who fell into gorilla enclosure lashes out at critics

Harambe, an endangered silverback gorilla, was killed after dragging the four-year-old boy “like a ragdoll” for 10 minutes at Cincinnati Zoo, Ohio on Saturday.

Outraged animal lovers slammed zoo chiefs for putting down the primate, with the hashtag #JusticeForHarambe trending on Twitter. Others demanded the boy’s parents be c-harged with child endangerment.

The boy’s mother, Michelle Gregg, broke her silence on Sunday to say people were too quick to judge.

“I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today. What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one,” she wrote on Facebook.

“For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes ... no broken bones or internal injuries.

“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.”

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The boy was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre and released several hours later.

“We are so thankful to the Lord that our child is safe. He is home and doing just fine. We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff,” his family said in a statement.

“We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla. We hope that you will respect our privacy at this time.”

Cincinnati police said the boy’s parents had not been c-harged, but that c-harges could eventually be sought by the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney. It is not clear if the zoo faces c-harges.

More than 160,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for the boy’s parents to be “held accountable for their actions of not supervising their child.”

The petition adds: “We believe that this negligence may be reflective of the child’s home situation.”

Zoo officials said the boy fell about four metres into a shallow moat after he climbed through a public barrier at the Gorilla World exhibit on Saturday afternoon.

Shocking footage shows 17-year-old Harambe picking up the child, who has not been identified, and dragging him away f-rom the wall and through the water for about 10 minutes.

In the mobile phone video, the youngster’s mum could be heard shouting: “Mummy’s right here. Isaiah, be calm. Mummy loves you.”

Harambe the gorilla was shot dead inside his enclosure. Picture: Facebook/Tangie J HollifieldSource:Supplied

Zoo Director Thane Maynard said the zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response Team decided the boy was in “a life-threatening situation” and they needed to put down the 200kg male primate rather than tranquillise him.

“They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy’s life,” Maynard said, adding that zoo staff mourned the loss of the western lowland silverback gorilla.

“We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically endangered gorilla,” he said. “This is a huge loss for the zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.”

Maynard also said barriers around its exhibits, including the gorilla enclosure, were safe.

“The barrier that we have in place has been effective for 38 years. Nevertheless, we will study this incident as we work toward continuous improvement for the safety of our visitors and animals,” he said.

Witness Brittany Nicely said she tried to grab the boy before he fell into the enclosure.

“I tried to prevent it, I tried to grab him and I just couldn’t get to him fast enough,” she told WHIO, adding that she didn’t believe the gorilla was trying to hurt the boy.

“What the first responders saw, I’m just not sure ... They said he was violently throwing the child around, which seems crazy to me. They have a picture of the boy sitting in front of the gorilla moments before they shot him.”

Another witness, Kim O’Connor, said she heard the boy say he wanted to get in the water with the gorillas. She said the boy’s mother was with several other young children.

“The mother’s like, ‘No, you’re not. No, you’re not,’” O’Connor told WLWT-TV.

Harambe, a 17-year-old male Western lowland gorilla, was shot dead inside his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. Picture: Cincinnati ZooSource:Supplied

Some social media users who watched footage of the incident said it looked like Harambe briefly held the boy’s hands.

The clip shows Harambe standing guard over the boy in the corner of the moat, and the two even seem at one point to be holding hands.

Witnesses claim the gorilla was acting protectively in the tense situation and may have been protecting the child f-rom panicked onlookers who screamed as they watched f-rom above.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals primatologist Julia Gallucci said the barricade around the enclosure was inadequate.

“Yet again, captivity has taken an animal’s life. The gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals to prevent exactly this type of incident,” she said in a statement to News Corp.

“Gorillas have shown that they can be protective of smaller living beings and react the same way any human would to a child in danger. ... This tragedy is exactly why PETA urges families to stay away f-rom any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at.”

Two days after the shooting, animal rights activists gathered at the Cincinnati Zoo for a vigil in remembrance of Harambe. They held signs with messages such as “Rest in Peace Harambe.”

Vigil organiser Anthony Seta of Cincinnati called the gorilla’s death “a senseless tragedy“, but added the purpose of the vigil wasn’t to point fingers but to pay tribute to Harambe.

Kate Villanueva of Erlanger, Kentucky (centre right) holds a sign depicting the gorilla Harambe during a vigil outside the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Picture: AP Photo/John MinchilloSource:AP

Australian vet Dr Chris Brown has also weighed into the debate, writing on Facebook that zoos need “protocols in place” to ensure critically endangered animals are not killed.

“If a tranquilliser rifle was used, the sedating effects of the dart wouldn’t have been seen for at least 5 minutes. The impact of the dart may have also agitated Harambe further. But given that the whole incident lasted around 10 minutes, perhaps there was time with early action,” he wrote.

“On the flip side, tranquillising Harambe while he was in the water of the moat would also have put him at risk of drowning. High pressure capsicum spray (as used with bears), tear gas or even nonlethal shooting are other options now being discussed.

“Clearly we wouldn’t even be discussing the tragedy if the 4 year old boy had been properly supervised. If we are going to keep gorillas like Harambe in zoos, then surely we need protocols in place to ensure intrusions like this don’t happen and don’t cost critically endangered animals like Harambe their lives.”

Harambe was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, and officials there said he was hand-raised.

He was sent to the Cincinnati Zoo less than two years ago in hopes he would eventually breed offspring for the endangered species.

He had turned 17 late last week, with the zoo posting a birthday message on its Facebook page.

The species is native to the dense forests of central Africa whe-re they are believed to number around 100,000. Conservationists consider the apes to be critically endangered.

A child touches the head of a gorilla statue outside the Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Picture: AP Photo/John MinchilloSource:AP