I scrolling through my newsfeed when I first came across the shooting of Gorilla Harambe at Cincinnati Zoo. Immediately I saw people commenting "how could you let your kid do this" or "blame the parents for not paying closer attention" and at first, I agreed. Why would you not be more careful to watch your children? But the next morning (today) I read on CNN that the parent had been occupied with younger children (assuming hers), not that it's more justifiable in any way... but what about the Zoo? Why is the Zoo not taking the heat of it all?
Then I proceeded to watch the video 3 minute video of the Gorilla and the young boy in the moat of the zoo exhibit... and holy ****. Watching it was on another level on intense than just reading an article recalling the situation. Having one opinion of the situation before I had all the facts straight, made me oblivious to the reality of the situation. Yeah, I do agree with the public, It is a horrifying and unfair situation where a Gorilla lost its life due to one situation, but after watching the video and seeing the child dragged by its lower leg through the murky water from one side of the exhibit to the other, I realized that it's a lot more complicated than just blaming one side or another. The Gorilla wasn't intentionally trying to harm the child, he was roused up by the screams from the crowd and he was trying to protect the child at first by pulling him. But as the tensions rose from the crowd, he became scared and thus he appeared to be more hostile. Then it was assumed he would hurt the child and it became a choice between saving one or the other: the gorilla or the child.
Now think about it if you were the parent of the kid, what would you have done? Hopefully, anything you could have to save your kid but leaving it to the ones who made a career of handling situations like this one would probably be the smartest right? And in the moment, there was a very small time frame to make this choice and so of course, they chose to save the child.
I understand the outrage and cruelty of this unjust murder of Harambe, but what if it was too late and the child died? People would then bash the Gorilla and blame him then probably kill him later and thus, it would be a lost-lose situation. Im all for animal rights but why did this situation happen in the first place? How could a situation happen like this at all?
So if you're looking for someone to blame... blame the zoo.
Had the zoo made sure the exhibit was safe and foolproof, then Harambe could have been spared an unjust murder.
Quoted from CNN: "The Cincinnati Zoo failed both the public and Harambe by maintaining an enclosure which allowed a member of the public to gain access to a potentially dangerous animal," Michael A. Budkie, the executive director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, said in a statement.
