Zoo: Boy's mauling death is mom's fault (she lifted him to railing for better look at wild dogs)

[anneboleyn]

110. I hate to sound cold, but I STRONGLY suspect that this is exactly what happened.

I have seen videos on YouTube -- the news, etc. -- in which parents have placed their children in astonishingly dangerous positions at zoos with no apparent appreciation of the danger these situations present. Honestly it is amazing to me how people at zoos will blatantly ignore rules that are clearly posted and do things that lack common sense -- such as placing their children on railings or exposing them to the animals (or deliberately antagonizing the animals) in some other way that is exceptionally dangerous.

This child was TWO. I hate to say something that sounds cold but I strongly suspect that the mother placed the child on top of the railing for a "better look" (as witnesses reported). This was incredibly dangerous because of the fact that predators were below in the enclosure but ALSO because the fall alone would be very dangerous for a two-year-old. And mothers and fathers everywhere will say a two-year-old is very hard to hold onto with 100% certainty -- placing him on top of a railing with a potential fall-- plus predatory wild animals below -- is a very, very bad idea.