Update: Child Mauled to Death by African Painted Dogs at Pittsburgh Zoo

[Sharon]

Poor little boy

[DiamondSmiles]

Our news is showing what supposedly happened. The incubator put him on a rail standing behind him. There was supposed to be a net below to catch him, but, it didn't work.

I added a new news report that states, "the net caught the baby, he bounced, then bounced twice and went through the net, he was so small". *Horrifying to think of watching!*

I still think the incubator is at fault. Had she not stood him on the rail, he would not have fallen.

Binoculars, asshole!

[chris]

PITTSBURGH — A 2-year-old boy who fell into an exhibit of African wild dogs was killed by the animals, not the fall, the president of the Pittsburgh Zoo said Monday, adding a horrific coda to a tragedy that has devastated staff and shocked patrons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2075789.html

[Hvergelmir]

Originally Posted by michmi

The mother was 34 years old. Certainly old enough to know better, but obviously stupid.

There's a good chance the kid was stupid too.
Hopefully she doesn't have any more kids.

[Soar]

Awful. Just awful.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Hvergelmir

There's a good chance the kid was stupid too.
Hopefully she doesn't have any more kids.

Babies depend on big people. We big people, are supposed to take care of the little ones.

At least the baby should have had a chance to grow up instead of being wild dog food!

What a sad end to a young life

[Hvergelmir]

I consider it natural selection.
Baby animals fall prey to a wide assortment of dangers, I don't see it as a huge loss when a human baby does, especially when you consider how many people exist.

There was probably a baby born at the exact same time that kid died.

[morti]

Originally Posted by Megamel29

That's just sad. Did his mom have him sitting on the railing?

Yes, she stood him up on the railing, it happened quite quickly from what the news covered, as a parent I am briefly angered, but then sadness sets in because she will have to live with this one life shattering choice every day of her life, she and her husband who was not at the scene were treated at a nearby hospital for schlock.

[DiamondSmiles]

A medical examiner has ruled that a 2-year-old boy who tumbled into an African painted dog exhibit at a Pittsburgh zoo was killed by the animals and not by the fall, a zoo official said Monday.

"What we understand from the medical examiner's report, the child did not die from the fall. The child was mauled by the dogs," said Barbara Baker, CEO and president of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, WPIX-TV reported.

Officials say the child's mother had placed the boy on a wooden rail above the exhibit so he could get a better look at the animals. There is a net below the rail, but Baker says the boy bounced off it and into the enclosure.

"The child initially was caught by the netting. From witness accounts the child was so small that he bounced, then he bounced twice and then bounced into the exhibit," Baker said.

Baker fought back tears as she discussed the incident during a press conference at the zoo on Monday.

"The zoo feels terrible about this tragic accident that happened. It's your worst nightmare as a zoo professional," Baker said, according to WPIX-TV.

The animals attacked so quickly that by the time a veterinarian and other zoo staffers arrived, they determined it would have been futile to try to rescue the child, Baker said.

'Someone help!'
Authorities said that zoo staff and then police responded "within minutes." Visitors described that time as being filled with screams for help.

"The screams just kept coming and coming: 'Someone help! Someone has to do something',” Angela Cinti, a witness, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday.

Zookeepers called off some of the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. Three more eventually were drawn away from the child, but the last dog was aggressive and police had to shoot the animal.

"There were three dogs, one at his head, one on the left side of his neck and another one down by his leg, " Cinti told The Post-Gazette. ”A [zoo employee] got there and hopped over a fence with a rake and he was banging ... trying to distract the dogs, but they wouldn't move."

Experts said the death is highly unusual.

Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, told The Associated Press no one he's spoken to can recall any deaths of children at an accredited zoo over the last 40 years or more. Feldman said the Pittsburgh Zoo successfully completed its five-year review in September, which means it meets or exceeds all safety standards.

Authorities didn't release the name of the boy but relatives identified him as Maddock Derkosh, according to the Post-Gazette. Authorities said his mother is 34 years old and lives in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. The boy's father was identified by the Post-Gazette as Jason Derkosh, a building designer at the architectural firm L. Robert Kimball & Associates.

The zoo was immediately closed, and it was not clear when it will reopen, authorities said.

African painted dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, and weight 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered.

The attack happened in a 1.5 acre exhibit called the Painted Dog Bush Camp that's part of a larger open area where elephants, lions and other animals can be seen. Visitors walk onto a deck that is glassed on the sides, but open in front where the roughly four-foot railing is located.

In May, some of the dogs crawled under a fence and escaped into a part of the exhibit that's usually closed. The zoo was on lockdown for about an hour as a precaution and the animals were coaxed back in.

Fatal attacks

Past fatal attacks have prompted zoos around the nation to review safety features of their exhibits. In 2007 a tiger jumped over a wall at the San Francisco Zoo, killing one visitor and wounding two others. Authorities first said the wall was 18 feet high, but a review found it was just 12 ½ feet.

In September a man jumped off an elevated viewing train at the Bronx Zoo in New York and was severely mauled by tigers.

Kraus said there was nothing to prevent visitors to the Pittsburgh Zoo's painted dog exhibit from jumping into the exhibit area.

Police and the Allegheny County medical examiner's office are investigating, and they haven't yet interviewed the mother or father, who are receiving grief counseling.

Baker said the zoo, which has never had a visitor death, will also investigate. She said no decision has been made yet on the future of the exhibit.

[xstunt1ngx]

If that was my kid I would of called about 6 big adults and fucking jumped in there and started charging at the dogs, from pictures and descriptions the dogs are about 28 inches to the withers and weigh about 80 pounds full grown. Now the mom has to live with the fact that because of her mistake, she no longer has a child and what should of been a great, fun filled day has turned into a horrible nightmare.