On Saturday, May 28, a four-year-old child climbed into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. This child's presence and one gorilla named Harambe's refusal to leave his outdoor enclosure once called back inside led to Harambe's death. The murder of the gorilla, who was shot to death by zoo officials, has caused quite the controversy. Here are a few main things we all need to learn from Harambe's death.
1. Animals are not beasts.
This brutal killing of innocent animals has become a common occurrence throughout the past year. But in this particular case, if you were to watch videos of Harambe with the child, it is clear no harm is intended. Gorillas are known to carry their own babies by their arms or legs and drag them to where they need to be. This is what Harambe is clearly seen doing in this video, even attempting to pull the child from his t-shirt so that he is not injured. There is no clear visual intent that the gorilla was attempting to hurt the child.
2. Shooting should not be the first conclusion.
While zoo officials were fearful that Harambe could suddenly turn violent and injure the child, after a full ten minutes in the enclosure the child had yet to be harmed. Still, the zoo keepers believed that shooting Harambe would be the best solution to solve their problem and safely remove the child from the gorilla enclosure. But why was this the case? Why couldn't the keepers have shot a tranquilizer bullet at Harambe instead of shooting with the intent of murdering the animal? Zoo director, Thane Maynard, claimed in an interview with People Magazine that a tranquilizer would have caused the gorilla more agitation and taken up to ten minutes to work. But considering the animal showed no signs of agitation to begin with, is this really a good qualification of the murder?
3. Animals are not stupid.
It was clear throughout the entire event that Harambe was aware that this was an unusual situation. Instead of following the two female gorillas who shared the enclosure inside when called, Harambe stood protectively over the boy. After surveying their surroundings, Harambe took action to move the child away from the screaming people above, again doing this in a manner that gorillas use to transport their own babies. This alone is enough to prove that Harambe was a smart animal. He sensed danger and tried to avoid it, taking the child with him. If Harambe was able to do this with no training on how to handle situations such as this one, imagine what would have happened if he had been trained. If a gorilla can be trained to run, fetch, and play like any other animal; who is to say that he cannot also be trained to save a child who has fallen into his enclosure.
You can watch the video of Harambe dragging the child to safety here:
