Leading animal conservation experts are challenging Cincinnati zoo’s decision to shoot dead a male gorilla when a young boy entered its enclosure over the weekend, amid wider safety concerns. Janikowski said the zoo’s description and public images of Gorilla World’s outdoor enclosure, with rocks and a sunken moat, is a popular type of gorilla exhibit. He said that both European and American regulations dictating the characteristics of animal enclosures at zoos are very similar. But Roberts argued that shooting the gorilla dead could have crushed the child as the animal collapsed. Federal inspectors are looking into the zoo’s actions and the Cincinnati police department is investigating the parents of the three-year-old boy.

Source: The Guardian June 01, 2016 12:50 UTC