Last Saturday at the Cincinnati zoo, a four-year-old boy fell into the enclosure of a silverback gorilla. In order to save the life of the child, zookeepers were forced to shoot the gorilla. The incident has sparked multiple controversies, for many people are of the opinion that this gorilla should not have been shot.
Shortly after the incident, Michelle Gregg identified herself as the mother of the child. She defends the actions of the Cincinnati Zoo, stating that they helped protect her child. However, many critics blame the mother. Some people are of the opinion that, had Michelle Gregg been watching her child more closely, the incident would not have happened. Some of them have even gone so far as to question whether she should be allowed to keep her child, stating that her negligence cost the gorilla his life. Furthermore, many people felt that the Cincinnatti zookeepers were too quick to shoot the gorilla. Many are of the opinion that Harambe was not endangering the child's life, but attempting to protect him. The incident has sparked a mass controversy.
It begs the question: who is to blame for the death of this gorilla? Though many are quick to blame the mother of the child, this is ludicrous. Children are adept at climbing fences and getting away from their parents. Anyone who has had children or babysat them knows how quickly they can move. Many professionals are of the opinion that Harambe was posturing the child. Gorillas do this whenever they are attempting to intimidate something. This is typically followed by the gorillas dragging and slamming around whatever object (or person) they are posturing. This indicates that the child in question was in great danger. Furthermore, zoo staff have defended their decision not to use tranquilizers to subdue Harambe. They have stated that tranquilizers are not fast-acting. In the time it would have taken for the tranquilizers to take affect, the gorilla could have seriously hurt the child.
As horrible as it is that this wonderful animal was killed, the life of a four-year-old was in danger. Any other action taken by the emergency response team could have resulted in further harm to the four-year-old boy. Given the choice between the life of an an animal and a child, the personnel of the Cincinnati zoo made the only choice that was reasonable to make. Nobody should be blamed in this incident, for it was a very unfortunate accident. Thankfully, it did not result in the loss of a child.
