Mother of the child who fell into the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla pit won’t face charges

Last week, a 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe was shot and killed after a three-year-old boy fell into his zoo enclosure.

The decision to shoot the animal was made by Cincinnati zookeepers because a tranquiliser would not work quickly enough and there were fears for the child's safety. Today, it was announced that the mother of the child will not face charges. According to Fox News, the mother had told her son he was not allowed to go anywhere near the pit but she then became distracted by the other children under her care. Hamilton County prosecutor Joseph Deters said:

“By all account, this mother did not act in any way where she presented this child to some harm. She had three other children with her and she turned her back" “If anyone doesn’t believe a 3-year-old cannot scamper off quickly, they have never had kids, because they can.”

The Gorilla World exhibit is due to reopen tomorrow, Tuesday 7th, and a number of changes have been made. The public barrier has been raised to 42 inches, solid wood beams have been added to the top with knotted rope netting fixed at the bottom. Speaking about these further safety measures, zoo director Thane Maynard said:

"Our exhibit goes above and beyond standard safety requirements, but in light of what happened, we have modified the outer public barrier to make entry even more difficult".

Image via Cincinnati Zoo