-L. wrote:
Cathy Weeks wrote:

I've been to that zoo many times (I have a membership, and live 30
minutes away) and I've seen the exhibit. And in fact, my husband and
stepson have both commented about *wanting* to climb in (they
restrained themselves ;-)

A) It's trivially easy to climb into the exhibit. My 4-year-old could
probably do it.
B) It is indeed clearly marked as you described.

In this case, I'd say that the parents WERE being negligent. And the
Zoo could easily and SHOULD make it safer. Even the most diligent
parents sometimes turn their back for a second, and the toddler takes
off before the parents realize it.

This wasn't a toddler. If it was a toddler I could *almost*
understand. But even with a toddler, you have to be smart about how
you let them interact, when around animals.

I know it wasn't a toddler - it was a 9-year-old. I brought up toddlers
because they are sort of my benchmark - is the zoo a safe place for
when even a diligent parent lets down their guard for a second.

I meantioned the dysfunction - because my 12-year-old stepson might
have climbed up on an exhibit like that despite our telling him not to
when he was 4 or 5 - necessitating my husband bodily removing him. Not
at 9, and certainly not at 12. Though who knows... he might be back to
that when he turns 15! Sigh...

these sorts of situations. It's a shame that places like zoos have to
become idiot-proof.

Yes, in theory, I agree with you. However, I also kind of think that
since these are wild animals, and we cannot monitor every single
interaction between human and interaction, we need to guard against the
idiots, so the animals don't ever need to pay the price.

It's also the case that *I* would feel terrible if a kid were killed by
an animal in my zoo, despite it being their or their parent's own
stupidity at fault. Rarely do I think death is the deserved punishment
for a moment (or even two) of stupidity.

If you ever want to read about stupid people's interactions with
animals - check out "Death in Yellowstone: Tales of Death and Stupidity
in our Nation's first National Park" (or something like that). Grim
reading, but also interesting, and sometimes amusing.

Cathy Weeks