Watch CBS News

LISTEN: Mike Francesa Goes On Furious Rant About Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla Incident

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- WFAN's Mike Francesa got worked up on his show Tuesday, and it wasn't over sports.

Francesa voiced his outrage over people who have argued that workers at the Cincinnati Zoo should not have fatally shot a gorilla who was with a 4-year-old boy who had fallen into an enclosure.

>> Subscribe To The Mike Francesa Podcast

"I'm personally offended by these protesters about what happened at the zoo," Francesa said.

"They killed the animal to protect the boy. You have had since then people outraged by how the zoo handled this. They saved the toddler's life. You have had people say, of which they have no right to say, No. 1 that the gorilla would not have hurt the youngster, (that) he would have protected him. Oh, really? How do we know that? Because there's video of him dragging him. No. 2, could you imagine if that was your child in there? You're going to have people who are going to say, 'Wait a second, I'm worried about the gorilla' when your kid's in there basically maybe seconds from having his head crushed?"

Francesa also couldn't believe that more than 138,000 people had signed a petition requesting that the boy's mother be charged with a crime.

"Are we in the real world here?" Francesa said. "This mother just went through an experience she will never get over as long as she lives.

"Did you know there's people who said, 'You should have shot him with a tranquilizer gun'? Oh, really? These guys said if you shot that kind of gorilla with a tranquilizer gun, in the 20 minutes it would take him to be put down, he could be disoriented to the point he could have ripped that kid to shreds. But the people don't care about that. They care about the gorilla. They don't care if the kid gets killed.

"They saved this kid's life, and they're getting destroyed! ... You're telling me we live in a world now where you are going to be more concerned with the gorilla than you are the little boy? What's wrong with you people?"

To listen to the full segment, click on the audio player above.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.