Today, Cincinnati is mourning our 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe, who was shot when a little boy fell into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Today, Cincinnati is not mourning the death of a 4-year-old boy who was killed by a gorilla when he fell into the enclosure.
Many have ugly things to say about the mother and her young son, but I have yet to see any opinions about her parenting based on truth, other than she also was at the zoo with other young children.
I see it this way…
Accidents happen. Sometimes horrifying accidents happen. Accidents like drownings, car wrecks, falls and all of these things can kill children. Yet, when these things happen, do we immediately default to blaming the parents? Do we say the awful things we are saying about this mother? Or do we seek to find compassion for a situation we hope to never be in ourselves?
I feel for her. Her small son was in a gorilla enclosure. I can only imagine how terrified she was. Thankfully, his injuries are not life-threatening. There could have been a different turnout and this mother could be mourning her child.
But most of all, I can see myself being this mother. I can’t understand why so many can’t. Has your child never done something they were explicitly asked not to? Never snuck away from your sight while you were tending to their sibling? Mine have.
As for me, I am offering compassion to this mom. She almost lost her son on Saturday. What if it had been me? Or my son? I would hope for compassion from others as well.
The team at Cincinnati Moms Blog offers our collective compassion to this little boy and his family. We can only imagine the emotions and trauma experienced by them during yesterday’s events and certainly into today and future days as well. We also offer our condolences and support to The Cincinnati Zoo for their loss and we offer them our support as they move forward in the days to come.
More information can be found through the official media statement of The Cincinnati Zoo and Thayne Maynard’s press conference from yesterday afternoon.
How many kids were in her care at the time? I’ve taken a SUV full of kids to the zoo along with my 3 and have never once feared them falling into that enclosure. When a child repeatedly states he’s going to do something that he shouldn’t, then the focus should be on ensuring he doesn’t. Something tells me it wasn’t the first time this child disobeyed his mother’s orders. Parents NEED to be held accountable for their children. I’ve been there many times in the manatee exhibit, for instance, when kids had been tapping or hitting the glass… Although signs clearly state not to. It’s a parent’s responsibility to ensure their children do not tap the glass. Just like it was her responsibility to ensure her child did not follow thru with his threats to go in there. Had my child said those words, that child would have been right beside me holding my hand. Because that mother decided to go to the zoo with more children than she could handle or control, a rare lowland Silverback gorilla is now dead. Plus, more than likely, a new barrier will be added because the zoo would never want this to happen again… After all, it’s blatently clear, parents can be trusted with their children’s safety.
Sounds like you’ve got this parenting thing all wrapped up. Congratulations. Also, it sounds like you were there at the time of the incident since you can state with assurance that the child repeatedly stated his intention to climb under a fence, fall into a pool, and hang out with the gorilla.
I haven’t read everyone’s response so I don’t have a grasp of the general consensus on what happened. In all the years, there has never been an animal needlessly killed at the zoo. There has never been a situation where a patron of the zoo found themselves in a life threatening position. I have read posts that blame the zoo for “allowing” this child to “wander” into the enclosure to stumble in just to be confronted by this very large and powerful animal. I have read posts blaming the parents for not keeping track of their “unruly” gang of children. In reading the lead in post here I understand your feeling a kinship with the mother, to not “pile” on to a already traumatized mother. But what if her child had been severely harmed or, God forbid” killed? I believe everyone is missing the point here, Much like a child wandering out into traffic, it is the parents responsibility to teach our children how to behave in public. Whether she has one child or eleven, it is the parents duty to be responsible. Do not lose sight of where blame is to be laid. That child should never had been allowed to go off into what was obviously a restricted area, to climb up on a cement retaing wall just to fall 15-20 feet into a moat all of which was designed to keep the animals in and give them a sense of security.
I hold the mother totally responsible. And so far she has shown no responsibility for the accident. For whatever reason HER child got away from her while under her supervision. She is responsible.
You are absolutely right. I agree 100% with you. This could have happened to anyone. All the people that have talked crap about this mother might one day find themselves in a horrible situation like this and I’m sure they wouldn’t want people to be treating them like that. I am glad that the little boy is ok and doing well. People should be thankful that the child came out of this horrible situation alive and ok instead of wanting to talk about how the mother wasn’t watching her child. I am saddened by the loss of Hembree but I’m glad it turned out that way instead of the child getting hurt.
Sorry I mispelled the gorillas name it’s Harambe instead of hembree.
The truth is, no one making comments really knows the truth, myself included. Yet we are all so quick to judge. Which is exactly what is wrong with our world.
Has anyone mentioned the fact that once the kid was in the enclosure, he was not killed. That gorilla could have killed him in seconds, yet the child was in the pen with the gorilla for several minutes and was barely injured. Think about that for a minute. As far as the mother goes, if you have so many children you cannot control them, think about strollers, leashes or any other form of control when taking your children to a wild animal exhibit.
A first hand account of a woman there that day…compassion always wins people!
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.
I raised four kids..And have lots of grandkids..we took many trips to the zoo. Toddlers have a way of doing things they shouldn’t. My thoughts on this is why was there a way a toddler could figure out how to get to that gorilla in the first place??? If he found a way..the zoo should have too! My thoughts and prayers go the the family of the child..the zookeepers and this beautiful animal. If any of you watched the press conference after this occurred you would know why they couldn’t just tranquilize the gorilla..it stated it would take too long..I would be willing to bet the zoo is making changes to that exhibit today!!!
Why did it have to be a fatal shot – why did it take over 10 minutes for Zoo personnel to respond? Why wasn’t it a tranquilizer gun? So many questions….no answers