Sunday May 29th was a beautiful day to enjoy Cincinnati Zoo, however for mother Michelle Gregg, the day turned dark quickly. In one single moment, Gregg’s life was changed and it could have been much worse.
When strolling the zoo, Michelle Gregg’s three-year-old child climbed through bushes and ultimately ended falling 15 feet into the silverback gorilla exhibit.
The next ten minutes would be filled with anger, terror, and panic.
The boy fell into a shallow moat that flowed throughout the exhibit, and a 450-pound male gorilla approached him. The 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe, would then begin to drag the boy around the moat by his feet at excessive speeds.
The longer the boy remained in the exhibit, the more anxious by-standers and first responders became.
Ultimately, the 17-year-old silverback gorilla was shot in order to rescue the child. The young boy only suffered minor scrapes and a concussion from the incident and has since returned home safely.
The rest of the nation however, responded with anger and disappointment as well as support and empathy towards the zoo officials.
Many critics of the zoo officials claim that since the silverback gorillas are an endangered species, it was not acceptable to kill Harambe.
Critics also question why zoo responders did not use a tranquilizer to simply relax the gorilla long enough to remove the boy from the situation.
Zoo officials state tranquilizers may not have taken effect in time and could have potentially agitated the large male gorilla, stated in a CNN article by Emanuella Grinberg on May 30th.
Zoo director Thane Maynard stated on Facebook, “We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child’s life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made” as well as stating that the boy was in imminent danger which left no other option but to kill the gorilla.
In addition, critics claim it was the mother’s fault Harambe was killed. If she would have watched her child, he would not have been able to fall into the pit with Harambe.
In fact, an online petition seeking justice for the gorilla through charging the mother with criminal charges received more than 8,000 signatures in less than 24 hours after the incident, stated by Emanuella Grinberg.
Although many critics claim the zoo responders were too aggressive towards the gorilla, many also state it was the only option for them. Supporters claim that the gorilla was not acting protective and was using violent levels of aggression towards the three-year-old. When the boy attempted to move, it was clear the gorilla was not going to let go of him. As minutes went by, the officials had to react and save the life of the child.
Ultimately, the blame can be placed in various places. Perhaps it was the mother’s fault for not watching her child.
Maybe the child was too curious and should have known to not crawl into a pit of gorillas at a zoo.
Maybe the zoo shouldn’t be keeping gorillas that are naturally wild animals in captivity.
Lastly, perhaps the zoo responders should have found a solution that kept both the boy and gorilla alive.
With so many places to point fingers, it can be difficult to form a solid opinion on which side to support.
The reality is both sides have faults, just like any controversial situation. No one knows what could have happened, or what the gorilla’s intentions were. A quick decision was made which led to a saddening death of a beautiful animal but an alive and healthy little boy.
