By now, most people have heard of the scary moment at the Cincinnati Zoo over the weekend. After a 3-year-old boy fell into a gorilla exhibit, zoo officials shot and killed the animal to save the child.
We talked to officials at the Great Plains Zoo to find out what is done locally to protect families and animals.
People across the country are mourning the loss of the gorilla Harambe's life while questioning what went wrong in Ohio.
"Any time you see a child at risk anywhere, it's really a horrible situation," Great Plains Zoo President and CEO Elizabeth Whealy said.
Since the tragedy in Cincinnati, many people have been asking how something like this could happen in the first place.
Whealy says the Sioux Falls facility has been laid out specifically to try and prevent events just like this.
"We are very careful to design for the safety of our guests, our staff and our animals. Even everything down to the location of door handles in holding buildings to multiple barriers as you see here," Whealy said.
Another hot topic of discussion lately has been the parents' role in where their kids go. Even with all of this protection in place, Whealy says having a watchful eye on your kids is always important when you're so close to wildlife.
"As the parent of a six year old, I know that kids can move fast. When we come to a place like a zoo or another attraction, we have to keep our hands on our kids, and make sure that they have good zoo manners! Which means staying outside of barricaded areas and not climbing on places they shouldn't climb on," Whealy said.
Basic advice that could save a life.
Whealy says even though the safety of the animals is at the top of their list, the safety of the public always comes first.
We talked to officials at the Great Plains Zoo to find out what is done locally to protect families and animals.
People across the country are mourning the loss of the gorilla Harambe's life while questioning what went wrong in Ohio.
"Any time you see a child at risk anywhere, it's really a horrible situation," Great Plains Zoo President and CEO Elizabeth Whealy said.
Since the tragedy in Cincinnati, many people have been asking how something like this could happen in the first place.
Whealy says the Sioux Falls facility has been laid out specifically to try and prevent events just like this.
"We are very careful to design for the safety of our guests, our staff and our animals. Even everything down to the location of door handles in holding buildings to multiple barriers as you see here," Whealy said.
Another hot topic of discussion lately has been the parents' role in where their kids go. Even with all of this protection in place, Whealy says having a watchful eye on your kids is always important when you're so close to wildlife.
"As the parent of a six year old, I know that kids can move fast. When we come to a place like a zoo or another attraction, we have to keep our hands on our kids, and make sure that they have good zoo manners! Which means staying outside of barricaded areas and not climbing on places they shouldn't climb on," Whealy said.
Basic advice that could save a life.
Whealy says even though the safety of the animals is at the top of their list, the safety of the public always comes first.