The Cincinnati zoo reopened its gorilla exhibit to the public on Tuesday with a higher, fortified barrier installed. It has been 10 days after zookeepers shot and killed one of its inhabitants after a 3-year-old boy wriggled into the enclosure and dragged by the 400lb gorilla named Harambe.
The gorilla exhibit has a new barrier meant to make it more difficult to get into the habitat, especially kids. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums had repeatedly inspected and approved the now 42inch high fence with solid wood beams at the top and bottom. It's now 6inches taller with knotted rope netting at the bottom, also added surveillance cameras. - Reports The Guardian.
Director of the Cincinnati Zoo, Thane Maynard said the exhibit had been safe for 38 years, but confirming the new barrier would help to reassure guests and redoubling their effort to protect both animals and visitors are safe. Adding that their exhibit goes above and beyond standard safety requirements but following the tragic episode, they have modified the outer public barrier to making it even more difficult to enter. - He said in a statement at Fox8 News.
While some visitors believe more could have been done like putting a much higher fence, they trust that the changes are enough understanding that it's the typical enclosure they do in the Zoo. Families still couldn't wait to return to Cincinnati Zoo and visit the gorillas.
Cincinnati zoo has firmly defended its decision to shoot Harambe as necessary to secure the child's safety but has faced criticism from some who argued they could have tranquilized Harambe. Others blamed the boy's mother for neglecting to supervise him adequately. There's now more than 500,000 signatures in an online petition seeking charges to the mother.
The exhibit's reopening came a day after the Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters announced that they would not file any charges against the boy's mother in the May 28 incident. She was tending to another child when the boy "just scampered off", as children sometimes do.
