Warning Stickers on Wild Animals?

We've all see the ludicrous warning labels on many products, such as coffee cups with warnings that the contents are hot, windshield covers warning you not to drive with the cover in place, a chain saw with instructions not to try and stop the chain with your hands or your genitals, a microwave that cautions against using it to dry pets, a clothes iron with labels warning not to iron clothes while wearing them, etc. All of these represent a lawsuit (whether successful or not) because someone did that very thing.

    I bring this up because of this New York Post article: "NJ mom of three was mauled to death by a hippo that charged them on African safari: lawsuit." The article describes the basic facts:

    A New Jersey mother of three was crushed to death by a hippopotamus on safari in Africa, according to a lawsuit by her widower blaming the US-based tour operator for failing to warn of the danger.

    Craig Manders’ lawsuit says that he had his wife, Lisa, went on a “bush walk” with tour guides during their 10-day tour in Zambia last May when a hippo partially submerged in a river “suddenly and without warning lifted its head and charged from the water.”

    The Cranford mom tried to flee, but “was unable to escape and the hippopotamus violently attacked her” as the armed guides fled and her husband watched on helplessly, the lawsuit said.

    The hippo grabbed her by its mouth, the lawsuit continued, “lifting her off the ground, shaking her entire body, and crushing her head and body with its bite.” 

So why is Mr. Manders suing the tour operator? "[F]or not warning them of the potential danger of the wild animals that typically weight up to 3,000 pounds." 

“Had we understood the dangers posed by the hippopotamus, we never would have agreed to be in such close contact while on foot,” the widower said in a statement released by his attorneys. 

So, we are supposed to believe that this guy and his wife were too stupid to understand why zoos have cages and enclosures. Which is apparently the only place he and his wife should have gone to view wild animals.