Warning: Toddler accident at zoo

[summer]

The child was mauled to death in front of everyone. I can't even.... :-| :-| :-|

I read somewhere that he was being hoisted up the railing to get a better view. No words.

gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/child-mauled-to-death-by-dogs-at-pittsburgh-zoo.html


A toddler was mauled to death today after falling into the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

The boy, who was around 3 years old, fell 14 feet over a railing and into the exhibit, said Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo.

“Visitors alerted the staff immediately and they went into emergency response mode,” she said.

Zoo officials tried firing darts to scare the dogs away from the child, but the animals, which are pack hunters, did not immediately respond.

The dogs were eventually moved from the exhibit, with the exception of one, which had to be shot by a police officer after it continued to “be aggressive” to the boy, Baker said.

“Unfortunately by the time EMTs were able to get to him, the boy had passed away,” Baker said.

The zoo has been closed until further notice.

The identity of the boy, who Baker said was visiting the zoo with his mother and family friends, has not yet been released.

“We’ve had the exhibit up since 2006 and we have not had any issues with the dogs,” Baker said. “This is a tragic accident.”

[meshaliuknits]

OMG. That poor baby. And the people who witnessed it. OMG.

[heightsyankee]

and the people whose little kids witnessed it.

Poor, poor baby.

[bhnumbers]

My husband sent me this story this morning and I haven't been able to get it out of my head all day. It's too horrific--that poor baby. I can only pray that the fall killed him and that he didn't died in pain. And I can't imagine what that mother must be feeling. What a nightmare.

[ttt]

That is horrific

How does that happen, though?? I've never been to the Pittsburgh Zoo but most zoos I've been to, it's not possible to accidentally fall over the barrier (unless you're climbing up on it or something).

Really what I want you to do is tell me that this can't possibly happen to me if I'm being careful.

[ttt]

z6mag.com/featured/pittsburgh-zoo-accident-2-year-old-dies-after-falling-into-african-painted-dogs-exhibit-1615260.html

Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium said, “There is a railing with a graphic sign. And the child flipped over the top of that railing, and there is also a catch basin to catch things that fall into the exhibit. But apparently the child flipped over that as well.”

[summer]

Nov 5, 2012 14:17:20 GMT -5 ttt said:

That is horrific

How does that happen, though?? I've never been to the Pittsburgh Zoo but most zoos I've been to, it's not possible to accidentally fall over the barrier (unless you're climbing up on it or something).

Really what I want you to do is tell me that this can't possibly happen to me if I'm being careful.

It sounds like a parent hoisted the child up on the railings or put him up there somehow and then he fell. Something like that.

[meshaliuknits]

Nov 5, 2012 14:19:20 GMT -5 ttt said:

z6mag.com/featured/pittsburgh-zoo-accident-2-year-old-dies-after-falling-into-african-painted-dogs-exhibit-1615260.html

Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium said, “There is a railing with a graphic sign. And the child flipped over the top of that railing, and there is also a catch basin to catch things that fall into the exhibit. But apparently the child flipped over that as well.”

The little kid had enough forward momentum to miss the catch basin (<- new term I learned today) immediately behind the railing and land in the exhibit? The ones I can think of at the OAK zoo are fairly wide. Like, if I was able to get up speed and intentionally try to hop it, I'd still fall in. I wonder if this one is on the narrow side?

[ringstrue]

I saw the report on the News this morning. They had Jack Hanna on and he was saying how those sort of dogs are horrid and even with the cops shooting and all they couldn't have had time to save him .

I also heard though that they are trying to determine if he fell from the fall since it was about 15 feet??

Maybe it's just me but I was so scared to get DD near any sort of railing when she was small - even now, in fact. Like, not even within 2 feet. Freaks the hell out of me - even if the top of the railing is 6 feet up.

[ttt]

Nov 5, 2012 14:23:17 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Nov 5, 2012 14:19:20 GMT -5 ttt said:

z6mag.com/featured/pittsburgh-zoo-accident-2-year-old-dies-after-falling-into-african-painted-dogs-exhibit-1615260.html

Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium said, “There is a railing with a graphic sign. And the child flipped over the top of that railing, and there is also a catch basin to catch things that fall into the exhibit. But apparently the child flipped over that as well.”

The little kid had enough forward momentum to miss the catch basin (<- new term I learned today) immediately behind the railing and land in the exhibit? The ones I can think of at the OAK zoo are fairly wide. Like, if I was able to get up speed and intentionally try to hop it, I'd still fall in. I wonder if this one is on the narrow side?

That could be. Another article said the mother set him down on the railing and he lost his balance right away.

Apparently nobody actually saw him fall into the exhibit either, which I find very odd (maybe it's not a very popular zoo?).

Just horrible. I'll certainly think twice about picking up my kids to let them get a better view at the zoo next time.

[wawa]

The pittsburgh zoo is kinda sucktastic. Or at least it was 6 years ago when I still lived there. It is not by any measure a world class zoo, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if the exhibit design is subpar. From a brief glimpse of the video at the link above it seems like the catch basin is really small (designed to catch like...a drink that is dropped straight down) and the railing is like a normal porch railing. I'd guess the dogs can't really jump/climb like a big cat would, so the vertical drop alone provided most of the containment from stuff like the incident where the tiger jumped up and attacked.

[ttt]

nj1015.com/mauled-toddlers-mom-was-trying-to-give-child-a-better-view-of-animals/

The boy’s mother had picked him up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck late Sunday morning when he lost his balance and fell, said Barbara Baker, CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. There was a safety net below the railing, but it failed to catch him and the boy dropped more than 10 feet into the enclosure, she said.

“The child was so small that he bounced. He bounced twice and then he bounced into the exhibit,” said Baker, tearing up at a news conference Monday afternoon.

[summer]

Nov 5, 2012 14:34:21 GMT -5 ttt said:

nj1015.com/mauled-toddlers-mom-was-trying-to-give-child-a-better-view-of-animals/

The boy’s mother had picked him up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck late Sunday morning when he lost his balance and fell, said Barbara Baker, CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. There was a safety net below the railing, but it failed to catch him and the boy dropped more than 10 feet into the enclosure, she said.

“The child was so small that he bounced. He bounced twice and then he bounced into the exhibit,” said Baker, tearing up at a news conference Monday afternoon.

I was not ready for that. And I totally have the husband that would lift the kid onto a bar. I'm sending this to him right now.

[meshaliuknits]

Nov 5, 2012 14:27:04 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

My understanding (which I admit is pretty limited) is that zoo "basins" are highly regulated. Their depth and their width are supposed to be a certain set amount following that tiger attack a few years ago where the jack ass was taunting the tiger. So it jumped the basin and ate him.

IIRC the tiger exhibit in SF didn't meet existing regulations at the time, which is why the tiger was able to make the jump. The SF zoo is old and slowly renovating their more depressing exhibits into something that doesn't suck safety and habitat wise.

This sounds like a new exhibit, but I can absolutely see the wild dogs being sufficiently deterred by a steep drop. They're not jumpers like their feline neighbors, I don't think.

[meshaliuknits]

Nov 5, 2012 14:34:21 GMT -5 ttt said:

nj1015.com/mauled-toddlers-mom-was-trying-to-give-child-a-better-view-of-animals/

The boy’s mother had picked him up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck late Sunday morning when he lost his balance and fell, said Barbara Baker, CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. There was a safety net below the railing, but it failed to catch him and the boy dropped more than 10 feet into the enclosure, she said.

“The child was so small that he bounced. He bounced twice and then he bounced into the exhibit,” said Baker, tearing up at a news conference Monday afternoon.

[eddy]

I was suprised to see that the railing was just a nice wooden one you see at parks. I was picturing something intrustive and metal. I guess the sides at plexiglass but not the front. I am suprised by the design.

I don't want to blame the zoo and I don't want to blame the mom. Such a terrible terrible situation.

[cookiemdough]

That is just horrible.

[demandypants]

The exhibit is like a deck that protrudes over the habitat. so you often have to look down to see the dogs. It doesn't have the big concrete chasm like the large cat exhibits have. It is really just so tragic. My heart breaks for the family.

[Deleted]

This story makes me sick. Just sick to my stomach. Heartsick. Everything. Every time I've come across an article online or it's brought up on television, I have to turn away...physically change the channel or click on something else.

I just can't. That poor, poor child.

[ringstrue]

You know, I'm fine with the railings like that if we are talking goats or capybaras inside and it's ground level, but WhoTF thinks its totes ok to have that sort of divider A) with such a fall and B) when the animal inside is one of the top animals to maul you?!?

[eddy]

ringstrue-I read that these dogs are some of the most vicious animals in the wild. Yeah I was shocked to see the set up of the exhibit.

[bugandbibs]

I should not have opened this post.

[pixy0stix]

I really hate going to zoos anymore. I get too pissed off at people doing stupid things like this. Really, people think the animals are tame and the signs don't pertain to them. The zoo gets blamed for stupid people doing things that there are signs up everywhere not to do. The only way to keep stupid people from hurting themselves is to just close off the zoos to the general public.

I'm really struggling not to victim blame here, as I do feel sorry for the family, but come on, this was entirely the mother's fault, and she's going to have to live with the guilt the rest of her life.

[BAMFMrsB]

here is an article and an illustration of the site:

www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/wild-dogs-kill-2-year-old-who-fell-into-zoo-exhibit-660660/

[agytay]

Nov 6, 2012 11:08:42 GMT -5 @246baje said:

Nov 5, 2012 15:17:17 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I really hate going to zoos anymore. I get too pissed off at people doing stupid things like this. Really, people think the animals are tame and the signs don't pertain to them. The zoo gets blamed for stupid people doing things that there are signs up everywhere not to do. The only way to keep stupid people from hurting themselves is to just close off the zoos to the general public.

I'm really struggling not to victim blame here, as I do feel sorry for the family, but come on, this was entirely the mother's fault, and she's going to have to live with the guilt the rest of her life.

This is how I feel as well. I don't get the zoo blame. It was clearly marked.

The model on the news showed her putting the child to stand on the top if railing. Even if it was an empty exhibit that would be a stupid dangerous thing to do.

I think that a lot of people do innocent-appearing things with their kids, which in hindsight could be really dangerous. The thing in my mind is that the mother is going to have to replay her child slipping through her fingers a million times. So forget what others think of me, that is something that I would not be able to live with....

[wawa]

I know it's not a funny topic...but SBP I just laughed so hard i cried a little at your rant.

[iammalcolmx]

Nov 6, 2012 11:29:38 GMT -5 wawa said:

I know it's not a funny topic...but SBP I just laughed so hard i cried a little at your rant.

Dingo exhibit.......RIP Malcolm

[emptygee]

Two things:

Like some other posters, I was surprised at the set-up of the exhibit. The railing seems (and obviously is) inadequate to keep stuff like this from happening.

The more I read and think about this story, the more angry I get at the mother. I KNOW it's not popular to "blame the victim" but aside from her stupid act of putting the kid on the railing, I do not understand not jumping in there after him. Yes, I know I haven't been in her position, so it's impossible for me to know for sure what I would have done. But I just can't imagine standing there watching my baby getting mauled as an option. It just doesn't compute for me.

And yes, I know she's going to live with that for the rest of her life. But I'm still angry that she chose to stand there rather than jump in.

[ringstrue]

Nov 6, 2012 12:25:22 GMT -5 @246baje said:

Nov 6, 2012 11:17:42 GMT -5 agytay said:

I think that a lot of people do innocent-appearing things with their kids, which in hindsight could be really dangerous. The thing in my mind is that the mother is going to have to replay her child slipping through her fingers a million times. So forget what others think of me, that is something that I would not be able to live with....

Dude this is not a seemingly innocent thing. Would you stand a two year old on the railing of say a deck 10-15 ft off the ground? You wouldn't would you? Because it is dangerous.

If you saw a kid climb up on that deck railing you'd tell them to get down because it is dangerous.

But somehow it is seemingly innocent because there are aggressive wild dogs beneath the deck?
Does this make sense to you?

The mom isn't the victim that poor baby is. The mom, well I just have no words.

this is where I am. The more I think about it - and how somehow no one happened to be around to see it at that moment - and the baby "bounced out" of the multiple catchers that are made to not have things bounce out - I just don't get how this is 100% accident.

[ttt]

Even if the exhibit were filled with fluffy kittens and baby ducklings, I would never set my 2 year old on top of a railing over a 14 ft drop. An if I did, it would only be while holding them with a death grip. The fall itself is terrifying enough.