Everyone has heard of the horrible tragedy that occurred at the Cincinnati Zoo. Harambe was a 440 pound Western Lowland gorilla. Western Lowland gorillas are critically endangered species in the wild so his death caused an uproar with most people. A young boy fell into the gorilla enclosure at the zoo and was dragged across a moat by the gorilla who was then shot by zoo officials. Bystanders claim that the boy had told his mother that he wanted to go into the gorilla enclosure and he was even seen climbing closer to the edge of the drop. Brittany Nicely, a bystander to the event that day, says "[She] tried to prevent it, [she] tried to grab [the boy] and [she] just couldn't get to [the boy] fast enough." She also claimed that the gorilla was protecting the boy and was not trying to hurt him. The zoo director in response agreed that it didn't appear the child was being attacked but that Harambe was an extremely strong animal and he was in an agitated situation. This has sparked a pretty heated debate among people.

Firstly, you have the people who feel the gorilla was wrongly shot. Some people believe that the gorilla should have been tranquilized even though the zoo director claims that it would've taken several attempts and would have left the boy still in danger until it kicked in. Also, people point the finger at the mother, who was supposedly with three other kids and turned her back for a second while her son fell into the enclosure. Most people blame the mother after many eye witness accounts claim that the child repeatedly threatened to climb into the enclosure. I think most people's thinking is you would not turn your back on the kid who is goofing around and threatening jumping into the gorilla enclosure. But, the mother will not face charges as so many angry people hoped, Ohio prosecutor Joseph Deters said, "By all accounts, this mother did not act in any way where she presented this child to some harm."

So, no matter who you put the blame on whether it's the zoo, the gorilla, or the mother, it seems to be the deadly combo of all three that cost an innocent creature its life. It raises many questions, such as whether or not gorillas should even be in captivity. This isn't the first incident of a child falling into a gorilla enclosure, and unfortunately, it probably won't be the last. No matter where you stand on the tragedy, all of our hearts go out to the poor creature who was just acting on its instinct.