Ah, yes, Kimberley Ann Perkins O'Connor, the famous Lowland Gorilla expert. She knows that the gorilla didn't just grab the kid and happen to grab him by the pants, which not only pulled up the pants but also the kid. And she knows that the gorilla purposefully "shielded the boy with his body" to protect the child from the clamoring of the crowd, because that's what gorillas do.
There was an incident at another zoo a couple of weeks ago and the response team and zoo officials at the Cincinnati Zoo had a meeting to discuss it and to go over various scenarios at the zoo. One of the scenarios was exactly what happened and with that very gorilla. They had decided then that the gorilla would likely have to be put down. It's not like they don't know the gorilla very well, probably better than the half a million morons at change.org and almost certainly better than Kimberley Ann Perkins O'Connor, the famous Lowland Gorilla expert.
No one (other than the esteemed Mr; Elephant Chewtoy) claims she was Facebooking, texting, selfie-sticking or anything else. She wasn't unaware or negligent, she was human who made a mistake. It's good to know that you were the perfect parent and never made any mistakes and your kid never got a boo-boo or a broken bone or managed to get into some place where she wasn't supposed to be while growing up, but most other parents aren't quite as vigilant or lucky. They're just people, every one of the trying to raise kids without a manual.
There are people who are saying they should have let the gorilla kill the kid, as it would have taught the mother a lesson. That's ree-tarr-ded. What happened was a tragedy all around. But it was a mistake the mother will live with for the rest of her life. It saddens me greatly that the gorilla had to be put down. I love animals. I like animals better than about 90% of the people I've ever met. But no matter how aware you think you are, kids can chase a ball right in front of a car, crawl into a swimming pool, get into all kinds of dangerous situations, right in front of your eyes.