![]() ![]() In just a couple of days, a Facebook group called “Justice for Harambe” has gotten more than 100,000 “likes.” A petition asking for an investigation into the child’s home environment has more than a quarter of a million signatures. On social media, animal lovers are angry that a parent may have been careless enough to let her son slip into an enclosure, precipitating the death of this animal. Did an adult get distracted? Did the curious boy quickly slip away? Maybe both. Does he think the boy is a toy to play with? A small animal to protect? Or one to pounce on eventually?Īccording to reports from bystanders, the child was with his mother and a few other children. Then suddenly, the gorilla grabs him by the ankle and sets off at a fast clip through the shallow moat, dragging the boy along. The gorilla, weighing more than 420 pounds, stands over the tiny boy, then takes him at one point and gently props him up on his feet. As the screams of visitors above the moat pierce the air, the gorilla looks up, seemingly startled. Two females complied, but Harambe, a silverback male gorilla who had turned 17 the day before, remained in the exhibit and went over to the child.Ĭellphone video of the incident, shot by a zoo visitor, is mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time. (There’s an excellent graphic in the Cincinnati Enquirer.) Zoo staff called the gorillas out of the exhibit. On Saturday afternoon, a 4-year-old boy climbed over a 3-foot barrier fence, then made his way through about four feet of bushes before falling 15 feet into a moat in the Gorilla World habitat, according to accounts. And parents need to be more careful as well. But there may be precautions that the zoo - all zoos - can take to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Was there another way to go? Probably not at that moment. On Friday, the zoo celebrated his 17th birthday.The killing of an endangered western lowland gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden on Saturday after a child fell into the enclosure was a tragic event. The zoo described Harambe, who was born in captivity, as an intelligent and curious animal who was on his way to becoming a group leader. Western lowland gorillas are preyed upon by disease and poachers, with fewer than 175,000 left in the wild in Africa, according to the zoo. She added: “I saw it, and I couldn’t even prevent it. “She had three other kids that she was with. ![]() “I don’t feel like it was neglectful,” she said. It also led several people on social media to question the mother’s culpability, but Nicely said it would be unfair to judge the mother too harshly. Maynard did not return messages seeking additional comment. The breach raised concerns about the apparent ease with which the boy was able to get into the arms of such a powerful animal. This is a huge loss for the zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.” “We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically endangered gorilla. “The zoo security team’s quick response saved the child’s life,” the zoo’s director, Thane Maynard, said. A tranquilizer would have taken several minutes to neutralize the animal, prolonging the risk. The zoo said in a statement that the use of lethal force had been a difficult decision. The gorilla could have easily crushed the boy at any moment, however, if only by carelessness, she said. ![]()
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