Mum Offers Explanation For Son Sneaking Into Harambe's Gorilla Enclosure: "Accidents Happen"

The mother of a boy who fell into an enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo – leading to the shooting of 17-year-old gorilla Harambe – has offered the following explanation on Facebook: “accidents happen”.

Start placing bets now on whether or not that will cool the furious tempers surrounding Harambe’s death.

Though officials did not release details of the four-year-old child who climbed through the barriers and fell into Harambe’s quarters, or those of his parents, the mother outed herself on Facebook, in a post that took aim at the haters.

“As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids,” Michelle Gregg wrote.

“Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today.

“Thank you to everyone that helped me and my son today and most importantly God for being the awsome [sic] God that He is.”

The public at large is still not on her side, however, with many remaining enraged over the death of the endangered silverback gorilla.

A petition calling for the parents to be “held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to lose his life” has garnered 236,170 signatures; up from yesterday afternoon's total of 50,000.

Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard has come to the defence of his Dangerous Animal Response Team and their use of deadly force in place of tranquilisers, News.com.au reports.

“The child’s life was in danger; you can’t take a risk with a silverback gorilla,” he said at a press conference, noting that Harambe was strong enough to crush a coconut in his hand.

Aussie vet Dr. Chris Brown has also weighed in on Facebook, noting that “western lowland gorillas like Harambe… are renowned for being relatively placid, unless provoked.”

However, he ultimately conceded that tranquilisers may not have acted fast enough, or, also put Harambe at risk, should he have passed out in the water and drowned.

“Clearly we wouldn’t even be discussing the tragedy if the 4 year old boy had been properly supervised," he added.

"If we are going to keep gorillas like Harambe in zoos, then surely we need protocols in place to ensure intrusions like this don’t happen and don’t cost critically endangered animals like Harambe their lives.”

Photo: Facebook.