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A 17-year-old endangered gorilla was shot dead by the authorities after a four-year-old entered the enclosure, sparking a furious debate on animal rights.
A stirring debate on animal rights and safety has been set off after the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States shot dead a 17-year-old Western lowland silverback gorilla after a four-year-old boy entered its exhibit, putting his life in danger.
The male western lowland gorilla named Harambe was killed on Saturday by a special zoo response team that feared the boy’s life was in danger. Video taken by zoo visitors showed the gorilla at times appeared to be protective of the boy but also dragged him through the shallow moat.
Outraged animal lovers have staged a vigil outside the zoo, signed online petitions on Change.org to protest the shooting, some are demanding “Justice for Harambe” and urging police to hold the child’s parents accountable.
Anthony Seta, an animal rights activist in Cincinnati, was quoted as calling the death “a senseless tragedy”.
Other animal lovers turned their anger toward the parents while mourning the death of the gorilla, lighting candles and holding ‘Rest in Peace’ signs at the vigil. “That child’s life was in danger. At the end of the day, it falls on the parents. No one else,” said Vanessa Hammonds, 27, who said she flew in from Houston to attend the vigil.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the incident highlighted why the organisation 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.”
Even celebrities waded into the debate with Piers Morgan, British television host, admitting the parents had taken “their eye off the ball”, but laid the blame squarely on the zoo.
“RIP Harambe. A magnificent gorilla dies because a zoo failed to make its barriers safe,” he tweeted.
However, for the entire backlash that the zoo has received, its zoo director defended its actions. Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said he stands by the decision to kill 17-year-old silverback Harambe to save the child.
“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,” CNN quoted him as saying. “Looking back, we’d make the same decision. The child is safe.”
A tranquiliser wasn’t used because it could have potentially agitated the gorilla further, Maynard said.
Maynard also refused to point fingers at the child’s family.
“We had a very difficult situation and we made a difficult call at the end. I’m not here to point fingers about fault,” he said.
“We live in the real world, we make real decisions. People and kids can climb over barriers. We work hard to make sure this zoo is safe. People can climb over barriers, that’s what happened.”
He also defended the enclosure barriers, saying the zoo has been inspected by both the United States Department of Agriculture and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He compared the scenario to a locked car that burglars find their way into if they try hard enough.
He also pointed out this was the first breach of the exhibit in 38 years of existence. “The barriers are safe. They exceed any required protocols. The trouble with barriers, whatever the barrier is, some people get past it,” he was quoted as saying. “The zoo is not negligent.”
The incident
On Saturday, the four-year-old boy crawled through the railing of the enclosure and fell into the moat t the Cincinnati Zoo’s gorilla enclosure.
Video footage showed Harambe dragging around the boy for about 10 minutes before the zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response Team moved in and shot the endangered primate.
The zoo director acknowledged that the gorilla wasn’t attacking the child but “all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that.”
A video shot by a witness shows the gorilla standing over the boy in the enclosure’s moat as a woman is heard screaming, “Mommy’s right here,” and “Mommy loves you.” The gorilla is seen nudging the boy and lifting him up at one point.