By the time this article is published, this incident may be old hat. But I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to let my voice be heard on this issue. If you are unaware of what I am talking about, here is a brief summary. A four-year-old boy fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati zoo, and a silverback gorilla, named Harambe, interacted with the boy. For the boy's safety, the zoo decided it was better to kill Harambe than to tranquilize him. This incident became viral, and as of right now, the Internet is still aflame about it. When something like this happens, a lot of opinions are voiced, and suddenly everyone becomes an expert. I am in no way claiming to be a parenting expert, a zoologist, a zookeeper- I am but a 19-year-old college student.
A lot of people are claiming this incident was in part due to bad parenting. That mom really wasn't watching her kid, was she? While I shall not condemn this woman's parenting, I want to gently remind people to think before they so harshly criticize this woman. It is very easy from the outside looking in to say, "I would have done this/that, etc.", however, it is not so easy when you yourself are in that situation. You have to understand that in a situation like that, your better judgment may be compromised. You may panic, and all of a sudden how you wanted to act outside of that situation gets a little skewed. I ask that you put yourself in the shoes of those parents. How would you feel if your child survived a life-threatening situation, only for you to be attacked by so many people about your parenting skills? I ask that you maintain compassion not only for the gorilla and the boy, but for the parents as well.
Now, as for the decision to kill Harambe. It is not my place to say what would have been the best thing to do in that situation. However, I do want to say that it is a tragedy that Harambe died. I am so, so glad the boy lived, but equally sad Harambe died. There are some people who think it is better the boy lived and the gorilla died than vice versa. I'd like to address these people. Perhaps I have a strange viewpoint, but I do not think we have the right to place one life above another. I know that we are talking about two different species here, a human and a gorilla, but still. I was raised to treat all life equally, and to not decide a living being's worth. I am by no means, no means, saying I would have preferred the boy to die and Harambe to live. No, as a matter of fact, Harambe would have probably ended up being put to sleep in that scenario as well. Then two lives would have been lost that day, and that would have been even more of a tragedy.
The moral of my ramblings is this; we could always have more compassion. Have compassion for the parents, have compassion for Harambe, have compassion for the boy. And most of all, have compassion for one another. What is done is done- let us learn from it.
