Harambe

I had very mixed feelings on the incident with the boy falling into the gorilla pit.  Like a whole lot of people, I think I had a wide variety of emotions hit me all at once.  There see to be two sides to the argument and they are, as always, angry at each other for feeling that way.  I sit somewhere in the middle.  Here are my thoughts....

1.  This mom should have been paying more attention to her kid.  Yes, accidents happen.  Yes, kids can "slip away."  There are witnesses that say that this kid kept saying he wanted to go into the enclosure, swim, etc.  Not to mention, I'm guessing this is not the first time her little guy got into mischief.  If you know your child is prone to bolting in traffic, you hold their hand.  If you know they are prone to climbing on things, you do NOT take your eyes off of them to take a picture at the zoo.  I'm sorry.  You don't.

2.  With that said, she's human and she made a mistake.  Yes, that mistake resulted in the death of a beautiful, majestic creature.  Yes, that mistake could have been prevented.  Yes that mistake will forever make her the butt of some ugly, ugly comments.  She fucked up (for lack of better word).  If you've never made a mistake, cast the first stone, you know?

3.  This was NOT the boys' fault.  Yes, he was old enough to know not to climb but he is still a child and his parents are responsible for his supervision.

4.  This was not because the zoo neglected to have a safe environment as far as I can tell.  I've been to this zoo and, like all other zoos I've been to, there are bushes, fences, etc to navigate in order to see the animals.  Zoos have signs all over asking people not to climb.  Zoos have clear barricades to the exhibits in order to prevent you from harming yourself.  If you choose to climb on these barricades or allow your child to do so, YOU are responsible for the decision, not the zoo.

5.  In my personal opinion, this gorilla was not intent on harming the child until the screaming and shouting riled him up.  Did he "drag him violently?" He dragged him like he'd drag his own baby.  If he had wanted this child dead, the child would have been dead.  Period.  They are powerful and very able to kill a grown man.  Believe me, I understand everyone being shocked and yelling but it did nothing to help this child.

6.  I get the concept of why they didn't use a tranquilizer.  Tranquilizers take awhile to work and can often agitate the animals.  They were putting the best interest of the child ahead of the animal.  The child is now safe and was released from the hospital.

7.  I'm deeply, deeply saddened by Harambe's death.  This was preventable.  This was highly, highly preventable.  This creature, that is endangered as a species, is now gone and it was not his fault.

Before you get on your high horse for either side of this argument, know that this is just my opinion on the matter.  I don't want the mother arrested for neglect and I don't think she should be able to sue the zoo.  I think this was a terrible, terrible tragedy and may Harambe rest in peace.