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| F LoBuono |
With this in mind, I would like to discuss the recent tragic death of a Western Lowland gorilla named Harambe at the Cincinnati Zoo. It seems that an unidentified 4 year-old boy slipped away from his mother, wiggled through a fence, and then fell approximately 10 feet into Harambe's enclosure. The two females in the enclosure with Harambe at the time responded when called by their handlers to retreat away from the boy. Harambe did not and grabbed the boy who was alert and apparently uninjured. At first, the gorilla seems to be almost cradling the boy. The, suddenly and without provocation, Harambe aggressively grabs the boy by the leg and as if handling little more that a rag doll, drags the boy through the water in the moat surrounding the enclosure. After a brief pause, the 400 lb. silver back does it again. All the while, the boy remains calm while spectators look on helplessly and scream in horror.
The Zoo's Quick Response Security Team reached the enclosure quickly and assessed the situation. They had to make an almost immediate decision on how to handle the crisis. It was determined that tranquilizing Harambe was just too risky. Too many things could go wrong. So, a most difficult decision was made to shoot and kill the gorilla. It was over in a matter of minutes and the boy was saved, miraculously virtually unharmed.
In that place and time, and under those circumstances, I believe it was the only decision that could be made. A 400 lb. silver back male gorilla is about 5 times as strong as a human. Although known to be gentle giants, they can also be fiercely aggressive. Even large predators will shy away from a tussle with an adult silver back. He could have killed that boy at anytime - even if it were unintentional - they are THAT powerful! I'm sure that everyone associated with the zoo, Harambe, and the whole affair were devastated by this event.
Now, this is not to say that an animal's life is less valuable than a humans (a debate for another post). But, again, under those circumstances, he had to be wasted (and, that's exactly what it was - a terrible waste). As much as we may relate to gorillas as one of our closet relatives in the animal kingdom, it is still impossible to know what was inside his head and how he may have reacted going forward. If that boy would have been held by a deranged man would we have reacted the same way? I believe so, and for similar reasons: as it is impossible to know what is inside a deranged persons head, so it is with a wild animal. A young life must be protected at all costs.
Make no mistake about it - THIS IS A TRAGEDY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. A rare, wonderful animal has been destroyed and a family devastated. Anyone who thinks that that boy and his family has not, and WILL not suffer greatly is sadly mistaken. First, that boy has to live with the trauma of being manhandled by a 400 lb animal. Then, going forward, he will have to deal with the fact that a popular, magnificent animals was destroyed on his behalf. He may not understand that now, but he will someday. Next, his family, particularly his mother who was watching him, has been vilified. What an awful mother! How could she have let that happen? She deserves to be charged and arrested!
Really? Have none of you looked away from a 4 year-old for a second with near disastrous consequences? Really?
Compassion and respect for life applies to ALL life and that includes human beings! I am constantly amazed by people who advocate for the rights of animals while forgetting WE are animals, too. For example, they want to Save The Whales while still supporting capital punishment! That, my friends is faulty thinking. In this case, people are looking for scapegoats instead of solutions. This was a tragedy that already happened. It's too late to bring Harambe (who had just turned 17 years-old) back. Vilifying the boy OR the family does not provide solutions. Perhaps, the answer lies in NO MORE ZOOS at all. But, that, too, my friends, is a conversation for another day. What we need to do is respect the memory of that wonderful animal by doing EVERYTHING within our power to make sure that it never happens again.
Epilogue: My family and I decided to go to the zoo yesterday after visiting my neice at Cincinnati Childrens hospital. For those of you that have already heard, there was a terrible accident there yesterday. And since every news media has covered this story, I don't feel bad telling our side. This was an accident! ! A terrible accident, but just that! My husband's voice is the voice talking to the child in one of the videos. I was taking a pic of the female gorilla, when my eldest son yells, "what is he doing? " I looked down, and to my surprise, there was a small child that had apparently, literally "flopped" over the railing, where there was then about 3 feet of ground that the child quickly crawled through! ! I assumed the woman next to me was the mother, getting ready to grab him until she says, "Whose kid is this? " None of us actually thought he'd go over the nearly 15 foot drop, but he was crawling so fast through the bushes before myself or husband could grab him, he went over! The crowed got a little frantic and the mother was calling for her son. Actually, just prior to him going over, but she couldn't see him crawling through the bushes! She said "He was right here! I took a pic and his hand was in my back pocket and then gone!" As she could find him nowhere, she lookes to my husband (already over the railing talking to the child) and asks, "Sir, is he wearing green shorts? " My husband reluctantly had to tell her yes, when she then nearly had a break down! They are both wanting to go over into the 15 foot drop, when I forbade my husband to do so, and attempted to calm the mother by calling 911 and assure her help was on the way. Neither my husband or the mother would have made that jump without breaking something! I wasn't leaving with my boys, because I didn't trust my husband not to jump in and the gorilla did just seem to be protective of the child. It wasn't until the gorilla became agitated because of the nosey, dramatic, helpless crowd; that the gorilla violently ran with the child! And it was very violent; although I think the gorilla was still trying to protect, we're taking a 400 lb gorilla throwing a 40 lb toddler around! It was horrific! The zoo responded very quickly, clearing the area and attempting to save both the child and the gorilla! The right choice was made. Thank God the child survived with non-life threatening, but serious injuries! This was an open exhibit! Which means the only thing separating you from the gorillas, is a 15 ish foot drop and a moat and some bushes! ! This mother was not negligent and the zoo did an awesome job handling the situation! Especially since that had never happened before! ! Thankful for the zoo and their attempts and my thoughts and prayers goes out to this boy, his mother and his family.
Eyewitness Deidre Lykins
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