The Cincinnati Zoo is getting severe criticism for shooting one of its nine western lowland gorillas on Saturday after a 4-year-old boy fell into the animals’ habitat.
Videos of the incident abound online, with the following amassing more than 10 million views on YouTube:
Though the female gorillas in the habitat heeded keepers’ calls, its 17-year-old, 450-pound male gorilla, Harambe, would not leave the child. The zoo’s staff ushered visitors away from the enclosure before killing the animal.
The boy—who crawled over 3-foot-high steel bars, bushes and wire fencing before falling roughly 15 feet into a moat in the primates’ habitat—was released from the hospital on Saturday night.
Visitors and social media users were quick to call foul, taking to Twitter and flooding the zoo’s Facebook page with angry comments and criticism—as seen in the responses below:
The New York Times explained:
It seemed like quick thinking when the Cincinnati Zoo shot to death a gorilla that was manhandling a small boy who had fallen into its enclosure on Saturday afternoon.
But soon supporters of animal rights were organizing a vigil outside the zoo in remembrance of the gorilla, named Harambe, a male weighing more than 420 pounds. Online petitions circulated blaming the mother of the child for negligence. By Monday the chorus of outrage had reached such an intense pitch that the zoo held a news conference to defend itself.
The petitions demand justice for the primate by holding the boy’s parents responsible and enacting a law to punish zoo visitors to negligence leading to an animal’s death. One petition has more than 306,000 supporters at time of publishing.
The petitions—along with further outrage—are being shared through Facebook and Twitter under the hashtag #JusticeforHarambe. Along with criticism from visitors and social media users, animal rights groups and conservationists are doling out blame as well.
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The Wall Street Journal reported:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the incident highlighted why the organization is opposed to zoo captivity, and blamed the zoo for the animal’s death. “The gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals to prevent exactly this type of incident,” the group’s statement said. “This tragedy is exactly why PETA urges families to stay away from any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at.”
Others, such as conservationist and TV host Jeff Corwin, blame the parents. In an interview with Fox 25, Corwin said, “Zoos aren’t your babysitters.”
Shortly after the incident, the zoo issued a press release, which read in part:
“The Zoo security team’s quick response saved the child’s life. We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla,” said Zoo Director Thane Maynard. “This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.”
The zoo posted its press release on its Facebook page. On Sunday, it shared the following post:
In the post, Maynard said tranquilizing the gorilla was not an option:
“We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child’s life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made by our Dangerous Animal Response Team,” said Zoo Director Thane Maynard. “Our first response was to call the gorillas out of the exhibit. The two females complied, but Harambe did not. It is important to note that with the child still in the exhibit, tranquilizing the 450-pound gorilla was not an option. 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.”
The zoo also highlighted that its dangerous-animal response team—which includes zookeepers, veterinarians, security staff and leaders of the organization—is certified every year by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
Though he did not bring up the criticism the organization is facing, Maynard said the zoo is “going through a painful time” and that its staff is “touched by the outpouring of support from the community and our members who loved Harambe.”
The director also said the incident is the first security breach in the zoo’s “Gorilla World” exhibit, which has been open since 1978:
“The safety of our visitors and our animals is our #1 priority,” said Maynard. “The barrier that we have in place has been effective for 38 years. Nevertheless, we will study this incident as we work toward continuous improvement for the safety of our visitors and animals.”
On Monday, Maynard held a press conference and told reporters that the people questioning the decision “don’t understand silverback gorillas.” He said he stands by the zoo’s decision:
We did not take the shooting of Harambe lightly, but that child’s life was in danger. People who question that don't understand you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla—this is a dangerous animal. Looking back, we'd make the same decision. The child is safe.
Western lowland gorillas are a critically endangered species; there are fewer than 175,000 in the wild and roughly 765 in zoos around the world.
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