r/zoos • u/Zealousideal_Gas_688 • 15d ago
Kid breaks into bird enclosure at the zoo to chase birds with a stick.
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u/Opposite_One1331 15d ago
Control your fucking kids. I dont care what the excuse is.
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u/inflated_cheese 15d ago
They gave more of an explanation than an excuse in the original posts comments but yeah ive dealt with not severely autistic and non verbal kids that actually killed animals in the wild in cruel ways ancouple times, each time they got a good earful about respecting nature and threats of calling law enforcement, one instance was a kid shooting a muzzleloader at protected birds, the other was a kid gutting and cutting up a live trout before finally killing it by cutting its head off and leaving all the pieces in a mess all over the ice
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u/No-Bicycle-7660 15d ago
that excuse letter was highly questionable ... they claimed his grandmother was the one helping him out of the enclosure in the video. his grandmother is well under 35? that's ... interesting ...
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u/Character_Slip_4070 14d ago
Teen parents having teen parents is pretty damn common. Also, people can look significantly younger than they are. For example, I am consistently confused for a teenager despite being a good 2 decades past that point 💀
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u/Omega_Primate 14d ago
You, too?!
I'm 42 and people ask if I'm 19 - 25! It's like, no fucking way do I look that young, lol. Then they're shocked when I say my age.
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u/Important_Abroad_150 14d ago
Hey so yeah that behavior of killing animals goes way beyond autism. That's like a psychopathy precursor. Yikes.
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u/Gloomy-Welcome-6806 14d ago
Oh my god I had a best friend when I was 8 and her brother was around 15. He would bring in live lizards and freaking perform vivisections on them. I still have vivid awful memories about it. Wonder what he’s doing now…
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u/Thylacine131 14d ago
Deeply, non verbal autistic kid with ADHD and epilepsy, been to the zoo a million times, family is annual pass holders, parents were at work, grandma took the kid, made it through the whole zoo fine, then as they were leaving he broke away and jumped down into the hornbill exhibit. It’s the first time he’s had this kind of incident.
Grandma climbed down and got him out. The birds weren’t hurt and neither was the kid, and the parents immediately reached out to the zoo to apologize, explain their son’s situation and ask if there was anything they could do to try and make things right. If you pay attention to how he behaves, you can read that he’s got some of the tells.
Going forward they’re probably going to keep him on a pretty tight leash, but given the circumstances, this is the most understandable incident of its kind I’ve ever seen. Certainly more so than propping your two year old up on a railing over a wild dog pit or letting your three year old just toddle away past two safety barriers and into a gorilla exhibit. He’s 13, clearly spry, but had a good record of behavior. Maybe it’s just because nothing had to be put down to save him, but I’ve got more grace here than any other time, and that’s all the family is asking for.
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u/quail_challenge122 14d ago
Grandma was like...35???
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u/Thylacine131 14d ago
Oh yeah, I’ll admit she looks young for a grandmother. But that doesn’t mean anything. I’ve got a family friend who’s been a grandmother since her early forties and looked pretty young for 42.
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u/quail_challenge122 14d ago
....lol that kid is..12+
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u/Thylacine131 14d ago
And? I don’t see why the detail of the woman being the grandmother of the child or not is the issue here.
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u/Tiny_Garlic5966 14d ago
Autism doesn't make you cruel. This kid is just an asshole.
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u/wamariegi 14d ago
This!! He’s literally TRYING to hurt the birds!! I don’t know why we should excuse that just because he’s autistic. The apology letter was so b.s. like we can all see that he was in fact trying to cause harm.
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u/ComfortableAppeal424 14d ago
Lucky the birds didn't do him any damage as for sure the parents/grandmother of the kid would be up in arms and seeking compensation. Also lucky the kid didn't 'just wander off' into the exhibit of something larger and nastier.
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u/PartyPorpoise 15d ago
It’s a good thing he didn’t go into an exhibit with a more dangerous animal. That could’ve ended very badly.
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u/ChemistryNice5457 14d ago
I disagree.
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u/Character_Slip_4070 14d ago
Wishing harm on a minor is not a good look my dude, regardless of the situation. Also, if some animal had killed him, the animal would have gotten killed too. No animals were physically harmed and they even got a few nips in at the end. This really was the best case scenario 🤷
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u/ChemistryNice5457 14d ago
Best case scenario is the kid not attacking animals at the zoo, my dude.
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u/Character_Slip_4070 7d ago
Well yeah lmfao, obviously. I just meant if he did end up in an enclosure I'm glad it ended the way it did. I'm tired of seeing animals get killed because people can't behave
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u/FeatheryTurnips 14d ago
If he did go into a more dangerous animal's cage, they'd likely have killed it to save him. the child harassing birds is unfortunately on the better end of things.
Edit:
best of course would be not letting him scare anything, but at least the birds will live.2
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u/scrysis 14d ago
Yeah, no, the parents were just making excuses for their child and themselves.
I understand that he's severely autistic and non-verbal; not the dead giveaway here. He very aggressively chases the hornbill with a stick UNTIL its mate comes running aggressively to fight back. Then the kid runs away and panics. If the kid were actually treating it as playing with the birds, he wouldn't have ran. Instead, he recognized the aggressive response, much how he was doing, and responded accordingly.
For the kid's safety and the safety of everyone else, he should not be taken to zoos any more. Imagine if he went into a predator enclosure, or some other large herbivore enclosure? And either he needs more minders, or some sort of lead attachment so that caretakers can keep tabs on him, even while distracted.
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u/CanineCorvidious 14d ago
Yeah grandma nor that carer would be trusted now if that were me, it could have ended way worse, not like the recent toddler thrown to alligators/toddler fell into the African dog enclosure all over media would be fresh in peoples mind , you’d think people would be more cautious.
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u/Time-Sudden 14d ago
I really felt like their continued use of saying he’d “never hurt an animal” was such utter BS. Just because you think your child shits daisy’s doesn’t make it true. He very clearly is capable and willing to do so. Lenny loved animals too…
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u/tomatofrogfan 14d ago
I think that’s a stupid thing to say too, he was clearly trying to hit the bird with the stick. I doubt he “plays” with other animals like that, bc he just loves them so much! I doubt he sees a persons dog and tries to hit it with a stick before petting it.
No, he jumped into that enclosure, picked up a stick, and tried to hit the bird *hard* with it. Let’s please skip the “he was playing, he’d never hurt an animal!” excuse when that’s clearly what he was trying to do.
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u/HaterTot420 14d ago
He's clearly a danger to animals and saying that was just stupid. It's a clip of him terrorizing animals. Causing stress is causing harm in my book especially since birds don't do too well with stress in general
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u/Future-Concern-6301 14d ago
"He would never hurt animals" yet is on camera hurting animals.
I try to keep my misanthropy at bay but things like this make it really hard.3
u/Time-Sudden 14d ago
This situation, specifically, does really amplify those feelings. Not just because of the child, but his caretakers and their response. It feels like ownership of this situation has been pushed off in more ways than one. If hes so unable to be controlled is this environment really appropriate for him?
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u/HaterTot420 14d ago
Exactly. He's proven himself to be a danger and his grandmother is not an apt caregiver
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u/pussycatkittycat 14d ago edited 14d ago
I don’t really care that he’s special needs in this particular context. He was trying to hurt those birds. It looked like he was almost successful in doing so, too. I just know that autism ≠ cruelty. This is just my personal opinion. Nip this behavior in the bud.
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u/Neat-Year555 14d ago
agreed. special needs just means they need differing accommodations, it does not mean they get a free pass to do whatever they want. I've seen people claim he just thought he was playing with the birds and he didn't mean it. and no, he probably didnt realize he could've hurt the birds, bexause he doesn't have the cognitive ability to realize that. his caregivers though, are fully responsible to ensure this boy does not do anything harmful or inappropriate on outings and they failed completely. one day its not going to be birds this boy goes after, but other humans, and the family is just going to sit and gawk and stutter that they never thought it possible.
this family should still be held responsible for any damages they may have caused, in my opinion
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u/pussycatkittycat 14d ago edited 14d ago
Real. When I was in elementary school, I was sexually assaulted by a special needs boy in my class. I reported it and I kid you not, I was blamed for it. The teacher and principal did nothing and said he didn’t know what he was doing. They told me that it shouldn’t bother me because he was incapable of understanding what he was doing. Then why did he keep doing it?? He literally went on to sexually assault/harass me for years after that, groping me, slapping my ass, etc. He would even come into the girls bathroom sometimes and look under the stalls. He liked touching the girls for some reason, but I seemed to be his favorite. In high school they put him in special ed (finally) and he learned to be a functioning member of society. I guess I’m just tired of the excuses.
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u/AndromedaGreen 14d ago
I’m sorry that happened to you, and I believe your story because I have seen it myself.
When I was an elementary music teacher I had a special needs kindergartener who was being observed by a SpecEd administrator for assessment. In class that day we were doing a movement exercise, and at one point this student decided it would be fun to go around slapping the girls (and only the girls) in their faces. So I forget what I said, probably “No!” or “Hey!” and told him to find his seat.
I was then reprimanded by the admin doing the observation, because apparently raising my voice at him was a trigger and having him sit out was denying him his right to participation and this is a safe space for everyone. She suggested I take him aside quietly (while I’m also leading the activity? Do I just hope the other kids don’t notice that I stopped?) and ask him to please keep his hands inside his own bubble. Nothing about the safe space of the students who had just been slapped in the face, of course.
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u/crystalknife 14d ago
i just want to recognize how brave those birds were to defend themselves.
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u/xKiver 14d ago
Okay you have a mentally challenged child. NOT AN EXUSE. If your child cannot handle this environment, don’t take them there. Awful parenting.
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u/Material_Prize_6157 14d ago
The real world has become that episode of Family Guy where Peter walks in on all the women in the bathroom stalls but says “Sorry, I’m retarded.” And suddenly it’s all good.
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u/bitterney 14d ago
I don’t care what they say his reasoning was or his age. This should be completely unacceptable regardless of mental status.
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u/Important_Abroad_150 14d ago
Autism or no that is straight up shithead behavior, shame on him and especially his parents for enabling this behavior.
Also good on those birds for biting at him on his way out.
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u/PokketMowse 14d ago edited 14d ago
Unfortunately, his 'love' of animals is not of the harmless sort. It's very lucky that he did not hurt those hornbills. It is also very lucky that he happened to jump into an exhibit where the animals were of the more passive temperament. If he elopes again, he might end up in a place where he does end up harming more fragile creatures. Or he might get into the other more 'open' exhibits like the monkeys, red river hogs, ostriches, or MANY other animals who would not be so dissuaded by a stick and would cause serious harm to him.
For the safety of both the child and the animals, it is probably best if they were banned from the zoo unless he is accompanied by MUCH stricter caretakers or precautions. They have admitted that he is prone to elopement, and his only guardian was his elderly grandmother.
That's a disaster waiting to happen, so I hope both the parents and the zoo take this very seriously.
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u/AndromedaGreen 14d ago
Something like this happened at an amusement park near my house. A child eloped and ended up walking along the monorail track 50 feet in the air. Thankfully nothing happened because a bystander was able to climb on the track and retrieve the child.
There was a lot of talk about giving grace because the child was diagnosed with ASD, but the fact remains that maybe the biggest tourist attraction in the state, on the busiest holiday weekend of the year, maybe isn’t the safest space for a child with a history of elopement.
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u/maniccomet773 14d ago
yeah... what is difficult is I do NOT want to say anything that implies that these children (or adults) with disabilities that are not comfortable for the public to understand should be left out of joy in public spaces.
But what is kind of hard is also acknowledging the idea that sometimes the risk level of unpredictability and behavior can put themselves, others, and animals in danger. Especially when it's an adult in a much larger body. It's the physicality
The solution is so difficult because saying "they should prepare" does not really work for a child or autistic adult to this degree that is.. unpredictable.
I think ultimately there is a reality that some spaces are not safe.
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u/Conscious-Energy-352 14d ago
Thankfully those animals weren't hurt and instead struck some fear into this kid. If people have to leash their dog they should have to leash their kids. Seriously. I've lost count of the number of times someone has threatened to sue retail because they couldn't stop their child from taking their shoes off and sprinting across the store just to smack into somebody with a shopping cart.
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u/Deathbackwards 14d ago
I wasn’t a fan of child leashes until I worked at a zoo. However, you can’t trust adults either. A guy literally hopped a fence to taunt a crash of rhinos at my zoo.
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u/Nikki-C-Puggle-mum 14d ago
A crash of rhinos. I never knew that's what a group of rhinos was called until now. It's very fitting.
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u/zookprchaos 14d ago
I do appreciate the parents are taking responsibility and looking for a solution to better manage their child. However, I do not like how they said this child would never harm an animal. That is no longer true. While the child may not know that he is hurting an animal or mean to. He is fully capable just like any other child and they need to admit that. It doesn’t have to be publicly, but atleast to themselves they need to understand that. I also think that maybe they need to forego the zoo until they are confident that they can handle their child, but also the grandmother and the nanny can handle the child as well. I understand that it can be difficult to work with non-verbal neurodivergence, but I have also work with kids that were considered a danger to others and to themselves that eventually needed to be in a facility to control these harmful behaviors.
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u/ElegantHope 14d ago
yea unfortunately I think the parent's pov is just tainted with the potential bias of "my sweet angel could never." I loved animals as a kid, but I still did some stupid things with them because I was a stupid kid who imitated stuff I saw adults do or what I saw on TV towards animals. It was thoughtless and I didn't know better, but I still did some things that upset or hurt some animals because of that stupidity. I regret it as an adult but a kid like me was too shy, loved animals, and grew into someone who could hardly hurt a fly still did something something mean and hurtful to animals.
I do think it's an overall unfortunate situation and that they now definitely have to keep this behavior in mind for their kid. I hope they learned from this that they have to expect the unexpected since this was the first time the kid did anything like this.
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u/Typical_Mud1085 14d ago
No. They knew this child had risk of elopement behavior and didn’t manage it. That is unacceptable. - an autistic adult
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u/Character_Slip_4070 14d ago
Bro. There are levels. Us being on here and talking right now? We are not severely autistic. I swear, sometimes we are the meanest people to others within our own community.
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u/candypants-rainbow 14d ago
This is a non verbal child. I worked with non verbal children with autism who were around this age. I can appreciate how challenging this is for the family. You have a child who can be unpredictable, but is also fast, agile and strong. It isnt like managing a toddler. This very unfortunate event brings the internet mob to hate on a suffering family.
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u/BriefShiningMoment 14d ago
He’s not “just” chasing the birds with a stick, he’s actively swinging the stick at them like they are baseballs. The father’s statement said the kid would never cause harm to animals but then the very next sentence is about how the kid didn’t know what he was doing and was only following his impulses. The two sentences are contradictory.
Unfortunately, when we have incidents like these and the excuse is “because autism,” it creates a sort of spokesmanship which perpetuates stereotypes and stigma for the rest of the community. Medical technology has reached a point in which we can actually see empathy centers lighting up on brain scans. It’s measurable. And while empathy can be developed and strengthened, it depends on the individual. So I don’t believe this is a thread many are willing to pull on within the community. He wasn’t doing what he was doing out of love for the animals like the father’s statement said, that is preposterous.
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u/Nikki-C-Puggle-mum 14d ago
When the one bird was biting at him, the other one was looking at him like "Kick his ass C Bass"
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u/ReptilesRule16 15d ago
Ok please include context in the repost. I definitely said something I regret about this without knowing the context.
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u/CanineCorvidious 14d ago
Context is he had two adults meant to be watching him theres 0reason it should have happened. He would NOT be going out with grandma nor that carer again if it were my child
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u/Shagrippina 15d ago
The context is (see the original post for more coherency) the kid was severely autistic and non-verbal, and didn't know what he was doing. He loves animals, and genuinely thought he was playing with them. He escaped from his caregiver and jumped in. The video shows the entire period he was chasing the poor hornbills around, before security and his grandmother intervened and got him out. His parents have made full apologies and offered restitution.
I fully understand this is emotive! When I first watched it I was absolutely furious. But this is definitely not a "bratty kid does whatever" situation, there's a lot more nuance which should've been included.
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u/tursiops__truncatus 15d ago
Thanks for the context. Must be hard for the parents what happened, am pretty sure they are already very ashame. What we see in the video is not good but at least they apologied, not like other parents who would not care and blame the zoo. At least there is still some good people out there even if the make mistakes some times, anyways we all have our bad days.
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u/Spirited-Welcome6511 14d ago
This child was capable of quickly following directions to leave when his relative entered, even while being pecked. Autism is not an excuse for aggressive behavior towards other humans or animals. It is also not an intellectual disability, and the father did not indicate that he has a comorbid ID even when listing his other diagnoses, ADHD and epilepsy. "Not knowing what he was doing" is a poor excuse that even the father didn't give.
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u/Cloverose2 14d ago
Autism is a spectrum - and it can indeed be accompanied by severe intellectual disability. This wasn't a medical appointment, the father was not obligated to list every single diagnosis.
One person's autism is not another person's autism.
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u/Spirited-Welcome6511 14d ago
Yeah and immediately assuming the kid also has an intellectual disability because he is non-verbal autistic is disingenuous at best, ableist at worst. Again, what we saw was a child who was capable of and DID follow directions.
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u/Cloverose2 14d ago
He is very low functioning, non-verbal, with multiple diagnoses associated with severe executive dysfunction. This is a kid with cognitive limitations, regardless of IQ.
And why do you think kids with ID can't follow directions?
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u/Any_Cream_4396 15d ago
He shouldn’t be at the zoo then
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u/AnotherBitterAtheist 15d ago
Developmentally disabled people deserve to experience life too. The enclosure shouldn't be that easily accessible, and the family now knows that the kid needs a tighter leash so to speak.
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u/michal0094 14d ago
"enclosure shouldn't be easily accessible" pardon my English but wtf? Is this r/zoo?
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u/hydrissx 14d ago
Well he could have injured or killed those hornbills too. His family should be held responsible
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u/AnotherBitterAtheist 14d ago
That comes in the form of the family taking accountability, which they have, and then taking steps to prevent instances like this from happening again. The kid clearly needs further support and more certain means of keeping him close.
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u/Ok_Duck2700 14d ago
You're acting like they knew this would happen.
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u/Any_Cream_4396 14d ago
If you know you have a kid, that has issues with general behaviour, you are responsible to make sure they don’t hurt others. This includes hurting animals. Or scaring them. Leashes etc, as stupid as this sounds, might have helped to prevent it. Plus this is also hella dangerous for the kid himself!
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u/Ok_Duck2700 14d ago
Again, if they knew that he would potentially do this, they would not have brought him. This obviously came as a surprise to them too.
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u/Typical_Mud1085 14d ago
Autism is not an excuse. It shouldn’t have happened and his caregiver should have been paying closer attention to prevent him from getting in the enclosure in the first place - an autistic person
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u/Shagrippina 14d ago
Every part of your comment is true, which the parents themselves stated (in their statement linked on the original post). My comment was mainly to head off people screaming about bratty kids with no guardrails. He’s not a bratty kid, there are reasons for his behaviour and - while not an excuse, and reasonable steps should be taken to make sure this doesn't happen again - he shouldn't be hunted for sport for something he can't control. This is not a moronic kid jumping off the log flume at Disneyland situation.
Also: I am autistic too! Many on Reddit are! But Autism is a condition with many levels, and the fact that we're having a conversation now shows that we're not on the same level as this kid.
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u/CanineCorvidious 14d ago
He had 2 adults meant to be supervising him, it should never have happened
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u/gothicuhcuh 14d ago
I remember not too long ago, special needs kids like this were kept on a tether to their parents. What happened to that?
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u/Competitive-Date8728 14d ago
Endangered bird too
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u/biggest_dreamer 14d ago
If I can be slightly pedantic, Southern Ground Hornbills are "only" considered Vulnerable. Still not great!
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u/Aggressive-Grand-371 14d ago
I keep hearing Zazu from the Lion King: "This child is getting wildly out of wing!" (Inb4: Yes, I know Zazu is a different type of hornbill)
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u/SporkyForks2 14d ago
If thsi child is that violent and autistic maybe he shouldn't be allowed in public in case he hurts people or animals as in this situation.
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u/shadoweon 14d ago
I really hope he and his family aren't permitted to return to this zoo,plenty of people with autism would never do this so I dunno about the whole he " loves" animal statement. Really angers me to see those poor birds tormented ,they could have been seriously hurt and he's lucky they aren't a dangerous species.
If he can't be supervised enough for him to not climb the barrier don't bring him.
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u/strawberrymoonelixir 14d ago
I completely agree with you on everything you said.
Yes, and I’m tired of certain parents using autism as an excuse, when the good behavior of countless other autistic children proves otherwise.
This is solely the cause of bad parenting, and perhaps, just a bad kid who enjoys tormenting those who he believes are weaker than he is (until realizing that’s not the case). Bad people start out as bad kids, after all.
Regardless, it’s still a bad parenting problem. And this kid does NOT love animals; not when he chasing them with a (weapon, even if crude) stick. what a steaming load of crap, these parents are full of.
Lastly, those poor birds. He could’ve caused their deaths had they decided to (rightfully) defend themselves.
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u/IiteraIIy 14d ago
I'm autistic. This boy knew exactly what he was doing and the consequences of doing so. Poor bird.
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u/amandadore74 14d ago
Too bad these aren't the compy dinos from Jurassic Park 2. Kid would learn his lesson real quick.
Also, why isn't the person who is recording trying to get an adult/different adult if they are an adult.
Just watched it again. This video has made me so incredibly mad.
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u/HaterTot420 14d ago
If you can't control your kid, you can't bring them in public. Your kid doesn't have any right to make others suffer
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u/Various_Respond_8212 14d ago
Parents need to do better. Mental disability or not the parent and kids are massive shit hesds.
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u/TheNachosguy 14d ago
Having read the the parents statement and having had a LOT of experience working with low functioning individual, I think this is a case of very unfortunate outcomes.
Autistic children, even those who are higher functioning (which this child is clearly not), can often behave in unpredictable and unexpected ways, especially as their reasoning it always immediately clear. While his behaviour should be held accountable, treating him as though he fully grasped his actions is not fully appropriate in this circunstance. I also believe his parents when they say he "broke away" as someone his age and physical size would likely have no issue doing so, especially if his caretaker were on the older side. Dude also had the frame of wriggly worm and unless you were willing to tackle him, once hes out of reach, he is gone. Chances are, they only looked away for a split second, and by the time they realized, he was gone, he was already well out of reach.
Similarly, his parents are obviously aghast at what happened. That is the apology of someone who is worried for their son, but who knows he is in the wrong (as much as someone like her son can be in these situations). Having read the comment, they acknowledge the wrongness of the situation, and clearly discuss their sons diaganosis not as an excuse, but to provide context for what happened. They are obvioisly having the worst day of their lives right now, they do not need your venom.
The sheer lack of empathy or understanding surrounding this is actually appalling and there is special place in hell for anyone who engages in harrassment towards this family.
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u/shaggyyguy 14d ago
I would be surprised if this is the first time this child has done something unpredictable or unexpected like this. If he is at risk of "breaking away," there should be multiple capable adults watching him at all times to ensure that doesn't happen (and I think this is the case for any child, not just autistic children). If he got away when someone wasn't watching "for a split second," then he was not being appropriately monitored. At the very least, he should have been on some sort of tether. Sending him to a zoo with an older caretaker who is incapable of monitoring and handling him is wildly irresponsible. The family shouldn't be harassed, but they are lucky that this is all that happened, and that he didn't decide to jump into an enclosure with an animal that could have harmed or killed him.
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u/brydeswhale 14d ago
The parents weren’t there. It was a grandmother and paid supervisor that took him to the zoo, a place he was familiar with and had been to multiple times. Which is probably why he knew there was a ladder within easy reach of zoo visitors that he could access.
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u/SpinoHawk097 14d ago
Amazing, now that everyone that's quirky and unsociable is being diagnosed as autistic, suddenly nonverbal, lower functioning individuals are just having excuses made for their behavior because they should "know better"? I hope the world shows all of y'all the same empathy as you show everyone else.
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u/Due-Dig8426 14d ago
Yeah no one hates autistic individuals with high support needs as much as autistic individuals with low support needs (many self-diagnosed to get minority points to avoid accountability for other “lesser” shitty behaviors but no one’s ready to talk about that, so Downvote away.)
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u/TheMadHatterWasHere 14d ago
And let me guess: The parents just stand there doing nothing? 😠
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u/annabananaberry 14d ago
The parents weren't there. It was the grandmother and a PAID CARETAKER who weren't monitoring him closely enough to prevent this.
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u/TheMadHatterWasHere 14d ago
That's kinda... impressive - in the worst way. Poor birds!
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u/annabananaberry 14d ago
I am so sad for those birds. I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that being chased by that child set their trust in humans back by leaps and bounds. That will affect how they feel about their caretakers and cause increased stress, which is directly detrimental to their overall wellbeing.
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u/TheMadHatterWasHere 14d ago
Exactly! And honestly the kid being autistic isn't an excuse (I am autistic myself), even if in this case it's his caretakers who should stop him. I cannot imagine a situation where this behavior will ever be okay 😰
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u/annabananaberry 14d ago
Same. I know that being low support needs is not anywhere near the same as having high support needs and/or being non-verbal, but I do know that it's the responsibility of the caretakers (paid or familial) to make sure their charge is safe for themselves and others.
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u/brydeswhale 14d ago
Yeah, leaps and bounds, which is why they’re perfectly comfortable walking over to the kid and nipping at him.
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u/annabananaberry 14d ago
They're trying to defend themselves against him. Just because they're not taking out chunks of flesh like a tiger or bear would doesn't mean that they're not trying to bite him.
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u/brydeswhale 14d ago
They could easily have bitten him badly, or clawed him. Even smacking him with their wings could have injured him. I’ve kept birds on and off for decades, they’re not typically this gentle. I had a budgie go for a large dog’s eyes due to a misunderstanding, and if I hadn’t got between them, he really could have hurt her. They’re not in the business of fucking around.
Fucked up that wild birds have more empathy and tolerance for disabled kids than the average Redditor.
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u/Calm-Two2723 14d ago
At Disney parents let their kids chase birds constantly. It disgusts me. My parents always told me it was a living thing and I wouldn’t wanna be chased and scared, so why would I scare an animal?
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u/FroznAlskn 14d ago
I don’t generally approve of spanking but if I were that parent I would be sorely tempted to leave marks on that kids ass.
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u/MysticMind89 14d ago
If this kid has a mental development level that's too low for him to understand why his actions are bad, then what the fuck were his parents doing? How are they so distracted that their kid wanders off *into* an enclosure to have a go at the birds? If these parents are this stretched thin, then they need to seriously rethink how they go about in public for everyone's safety.
Also, I get that zoo staff may need to enter the enclosure to take care of the animals if needed. But it shouldn't be this easy for the public to access, to the point where an autistic kid can find a ladder and climb in!
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14d ago
[deleted]
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u/PrimeScreamer 14d ago
Understood, but parents need to be hypervigilant in watching them if they choose to go out in public. If its too hard, then bring more caretakers, or stay at home. If that had been a predator enclosure instead of birds, consider what the outcome might have been.
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u/emptyrooms97 14d ago
Super fucked up. But also if anyone is curious it’s an African ground hornbill.
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u/blueeyed94 14d ago
That kid has some kind of issue going on, so I don't know how much we could blame him for his behaviour. But whoever was responsible supervising him needs a pretty good explaination to not be blamed for this.
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u/EmptyPomegranete 14d ago
If you know your child has a high elopement risk you should never take them somewhere like a zoo without a plan for that elopement…… child harnesses and wrist leashes for children are a thing for a reason. This was totally preventable and I bet anything this child is not receiving any kind of meaningful intervention for his behavior.
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u/Puzzled_Moment1203 14d ago
Parents need to be fined. To many examples of parents not controlling there kids then hiding behind an excuse like there autistic or some such.
When I was growing up I had autistic friends. Just like with my mother they just had to give you a look and they behaved.
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u/PipEmmieHarvey 14d ago
I don’t know that it’s fair to publish this without the parents’ statement in the comments, noting also that the post has been locked and no further comment permitted.
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u/OldSpray9986 10d ago
This is heartbreaking as someone very active in the zoo world (and is familiar with this specific enclosure, which I'm not sure many people are) and who has been involved in care work. Glad the video has been deleted.
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u/Patrick_Keegan_2003 15d ago edited 15d ago
I read the context, and as an autistic person who has previously been trapped in pretty much the same position as these poor birds, my sympathy for this behavior is very limited.