On Sunday, November 4, a young child fell from his mother's arms into the African Painted Dog (Lycaon pictus) enclosure at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. According to Lt. Kraus, "the mother placed the child in a standing position on the wooden railing overlooking the enclosure in which he lost his balance and fell into the pit. He further stated, none of the people who observed the child fall into the enclosure made an attempt to go after him" (Hopey, Kane and Luna, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
It is horrible to know that this child died after accidently falling into an animal enclosure. Unfortunately, this is not the first time a human has died, or been severely injured, when at a zoo. Often by human mistake either intentionally, or unintentionally, people enter the enclosures and get seriously injured or die. Here are a few more examples of what can happen when entering an enclosure:
Beijing, China – A man was attacked by a Panda after jumping into the enclosure to grab his child's toy. The man was attacked by the panda and was bitten on his leg. Next time, just buy your child a new toy.
Bronx, New York – A man wanting to be 'one with the tiger' at the Bronx Zoo jumped into the enclosure. He was subsequently mauled by the tiger and severely injured. The man was pleased to have petted the tiger even though he was injured.
Calgary, Canada – Two men snuck into the Calgary Zoo to surprise a friend that worked there. The men were drinking the night before and upon breaking into the zoo ended up climbing over the fence into the tiger cage. One of the men was mauled by the tiger and severely injured. A piece of advice, do not go to the zoo intoxicated. More importantly, if you break into a zoo you never know what animal is waiting on the other side of the fence for you.
In the instance of the Pittsburgh Zoo, the mother was holding the child on top of a railing that was intended to keep people from falling into the enclosure. Children are often lifted up by their parents at zoos to get a better look at the animals. Having read numerous comments on the Pittsburgh Zoos Facebook page, the mother will have to live with this unfortunate event the rest of her life. My heart goes out to the woman who lost her child.
However, do you think someone should have gone in the enclosure after the child? Do you think the enclosure should have had screen surrounding the entire viewing area? Do you think the mother should have just taken the child to another vantage point for a better view of the dogs? Let me know what you think.
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Pittsburgh Green Activism Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/green-activism-in-pittsburgh/stefany-grieco
National Green Living Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/green-living-in-national/stefany-grieco
National Land Use Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/land-use-in-national/stefany-grieco
National Stay at Home Parents Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/stayathome-parents-in-national/stefany-grieco
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