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.
I’m really glad that the zoo chose to save the life of a CHILD. Yikes folks! Regardless of fault, any way you present this to me, your child, my child, his, hers, whatever….you save the kid.
Now. Cry, hug your babies, and freaking build better enclosures. None of this is brain science.
Where was the accident. Full Definition of accident
1
a : an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance
b : lack of intention or necessity : chance . This was not an ACCIDENT. It was neglect.
As Cesar Millan says: rules, boundaries and limitations. Accidents are clearly unforseen. But when the child makes statements about wanting to go down to see the gorilla, then it’s not an accident. Clearly the mother didn’t set down any rules of expected behavior during the trip to the zoo.i understand kids get excited about a trip to the zoo but it’s a parents responsibility to renforce acceptable behavior. The poor gorilla suffered the consequences of a patent inability manage their child. The staff was forced into a horrible position of damn ed if we do (shoot the gorilla) )or dammed if we don’t (tranquilizers)
Exactly.
Why is the immediate response in situations like this to pull a firearm and kill the animal? No one’s ever heard of high dose tranquilizers? They couldn’t have shot it with a tranq gun to incapacitate it as opposed to killing it? This is the second incident like this in a just over a week. Two lions in a Chilean Zoo were shot because some nutjob with a death wish dove into their cage to commit suicide. So it’s the lions fault? And now, the gorilla because he “dragged the child around for 10 minutes”. All of the video footage I have seen shows him only dragging the child once to move away from the frightening people. Otherwise, it seemed to view the child as like itself with curiosity and interest. And the mother thanked zoo officials for their “quick” response? Because 10+ minutes (where someone can be heard on video saying “There’s a zoo attendant”) is hardly “quick”.
While I disagree that it’s alright be rude and disrespectful towards anyone because accidents happen, the facts of the matter are that she was not attentive of her child. When he expressed repeated desire to go into the water, she could have left and distracted the child with a different exhibit. The zoo attendants appear slow and panicked. They made a rash decision and used excessive force because they did not know how to react. Whatever training they have had for situations like this was obviously lost in theory and the belief they will never need to use it. They used excessive force and a protected animal is dead because of it.
Sure, the child *could* have ended up dead, but he didn’t. Was it because the zoo workers reacted so quickly?? Maybe but highly unlikely. That gorilla could have ripped that child to pieces or thrown him around like a rag doll, killing him within a few moments, yet it didn’t in over 10 minutes of time that passed.
We will never know what might have been. We will never know if a tranquilizer gun would have subdued the gorilla because that was never considered. What we know is that in a single moment a series of tragic events occurred leading to the death of an animal that was just living its life in a cage instead of its natural habitat, probably lonely and bored when this strange little person encroached into its otherwise confined and boring world. It was most likely surprised and intrigued to get a little visitor and I doubt it saw that child as a threat, considering it helped the child stand up at one point. It’s biggest concern may have been the loud, crazy, panicked, screaming onlookers who, in the gorilla’s eyes may have been trying to harm the child or take the child away.
I’m glad the child is safe but let’s not vilify the gorilla or the mother. If anyone is to blame, blame the zoo attendants who were reactionary and used unnecessary, excessive force to murder a beautiful animal when there were other opti9ons available if they had just been properly trained to utilize them.
But they did consider a tranquilizer. The zoo’s dangerous animal response team plans and drills for events just such as this, where a zoo staff member or patron is under threat. If you have actually read anything about the event, just about every article points out that (a) it could take several minutes for a tranquilizer to affect a creature as large as a gorilla, (b) he might react in anger when he was darted, and (c) he could easily have fallen on and crushed the child (if the child did survive until the tranquilizer took effect. Shooting him was not a rash decision. And if you have watched the videos of the incident, you can see the gorilla dragging the boy roughly through the water, banging his head on concrete as it went. Even if he was trying to protect the boy, he was treating him like a ragdoll. The boy survived with a concussion, but from all professional accounts the chances are good that he would have been dead if the zoo team hadn’t acted as they had.
The barricade outside the exhibit meets zoo standards, but it also was only 3 feet high. One eyewitness account described the boy “flopping” over the wall. I would be surprised if it took more than a second or two … I’d be willing to sacrifice a clear view of the animals for additional safety.
People are cruel. They automatically want to fault the parent no matter what the circumstance or reason or whatever. Most that say they wouldn’t ever, think they are perfect. I wish I were as perfect as they seem to be. But then again, I’m glad I’m not the perfect person. I don’t know the whole story so…
It’s part of the irresponsibility of today’s generation. People have children then they expect everyone else to pay for their birth, their education, their medical expenses, their daycare and their school lunches. I guess she was expecting the zoo to watch her kids and keep them safe. It’s a place that houses and displays wild animals. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened at a zoo. She knew the risk. She is responsible. I wouldn’t take my dog someplace like that unless she were on a lead. They make harnesses and leads for toddlers. If the child isn’t fastened in a stroller, it should be tethered to the parent.
I was not there and can offer no judgement for the parents or anyone else.
I wondered, though, why those that do choose to direct their judgement to the mother and not the father…
If I were driving down the street texting and failed to stop at a stop sign and rear ended someone it would be an accident. I would still be liable.
If it were you I rear ended and your 4 year old was killed in the “accident” would you show as much sympathy to me? Would you say I was being mistreated because it was an accident or would you seek justice from the careless person who murdered your child.
I don’t understand why they didn’t try to tranquilize the gorilla. Instead they just kill him!