Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Accidents happen?

What do you think about the decision of the Cincinnati zoo director to shoot the 400 pound gorilla who was dragging around a four-year-old boy?

RT reports
...The boy was inside the gorilla cave for well over 10 minutes before being rescued after the animal was shot dead by zoo-keepers.

While for some it seemed as if the animal was protecting the child, the sight of the boy’s head banging on the concrete floor while being dragged through the enclosure led to the decision to shoot Harambe, according to the zoo’s director, Thayne Maynard.

“The gorilla was clearly agitated. The gorilla was clearly disoriented. Looking back, we would make the same decision,” Maynard told a news conference on Monday.

The zoo also released a statement saying: “We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child’s life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made.”

The child’s mother, Michelle Gregg reportedly attempted to defend herself in a Facebook post that she later deleted.

“God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes [...] no broken bones or internal injuries.

As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen […],” Gregg wrote, as cited by several media outlets.

Nevertheless, animal rights activists and social media users mobilized on Monday to express their outrage over the killing of a representative of an endangered species. Some 270,000 people signed online petitions to protest the shooting, some of which called on police to hold the child’s parents accountable.

...Many have questioned the zoo-keepers’ decision to shoot Harambe instead of tranquilizing him.

...Maynard explained, however, that tranquilizing Harambe was not even considered because “tranquilizers do not take effect for several minutes and the child was in imminent danger. On top of that, the impact from the dart could agitate the animal and cause the situation to get much worse.”

“They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy’s life,” Maynard added.

Many social media users have defended the zoo-keepers’ decision, saying the animal’s reaction would have been hard to predict and the child’s life was, in fact, at stake.
Read more here.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

this was a male gorilla, not a female...and male gorillas kill child gorillas and smaller apes all the time. Photos and short snips of film prove nothing: he dragged the kid one minute and cuddled him the next. If you wait for him to make an obviously aggressive move, it's too late...

When I worked in Africa, we had much smaller baboons attack women and children. Those who think monkeys are sweet have seen too many Disney films. This was a wild animal, an alpha male, with high testosterone levels, not a pet. .

as for the parents: Yes, they should have watched the kid, but I had boys, and those who don't know how small kids can get away from you like this are lucky parents.