Many lessons to be learned from a heartbreaking incident
Unless you has spent the last two weeks under an extremely isolated rock, it is almost certain that you are familiar with the heartbreaking story of Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla held at the Cincinnati Zoo. The silverback male was fatally shot to save the life of a three-year-old boy that had gained access to the gorilla enclosure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_1aCt2c0s
The fallout from this incident has been strong and multifaceted. Some are vindicating the mother of the boy, claiming that the zoo failed to provide adequate barriers to the enclosure. Many are outraged by the decision to kill the gorilla, denouncing the higher value put on human lives over those of other creatures. Others still have expressed frustration with related issues in a broader sense, such as poor parenting or the problems with conservation.
I’m going to take this opportunity to express my own view on these unfortunate circumstances. Keeping in mind that I am an animal lover, biology student, and advocate for personal accountability—but certainly not a trained zookeeper or zoological architect—I think there are some major areas of concern that leave none of the involved parties blameless.
Lack of supervision
I am not a parent. It is an extremely difficult job, and it is not my place to judge others when mistakes are made. The vitriol and threats directed toward this boy’s mother are unacceptable and unwarranted. It is impossible for us to know the exact circumstances leading to the boy’s fall, and any assumptions would be inappropriate. That being said, this situation provides a stark warning to all guardians about proper supervision.
I won’t say the design of the enclosure was flawless, nor will I say that children are easy to keep an eye on at all times. But a toddler does not simply work their way into a secure animal exhibit—quickly and unnoticed—unless left unattended for an inappropriate amount of time. Rather than criticizing this boy’s parents, I think we can all stand to benefit from the reminder that trouble can create itself in mere seconds.
Exacerbating response of witnesses
A three-year-old boy finds himself in the territory of a towering, powerful creature, neither likely able to comprehend exactly what is occurring. So how did the visitors witnessing this serious event react? By screaming, of course. While it is understandable that such a scene must be terrifying to watch, it baffles me how those present failed to see that their loud noises only further disturbed the confused (and likely frightened) primate below. By panicking and screaming, the situation was only made worse.
Assumptions
Humans love to make assumptions about animals. It is difficult to know what Harambe was thinking, but it is apparent that he was not directly harming the boy. In the arms of a 400-plus pound gorilla, the boy could have been killed in mere seconds. That being said, there is no certainty Harambe was acting to protect the boy, either. It can be dangerous to assign human qualities to animals, and it can be just as dangerous not to.
The value of a life
The decision to shoot Harambe to prevent further injury to or death of the toddler was surely a split-second, agonizing decision. Tranquilizers were not an option, given that they would have required too much time to take effect, and they would likely only have agitated Harambe further.
There is no doubt in my mind that had zoo staff delayed or chosen not to deliver the fatal shot, and the boy was more seriously injured or killed, there would have been an equivalent outcry. This goes to show the impossibility of satisfying the masses, but also the absolute unpredictability of the situation. Regardless, one life here was clearly deemed more worthy than another. We need to examine our reasoning behind this, as well as how Harambe ended up where he was in the first place.
The controversy of conservation
As mentioned in a CBC News segment, Harambe was one of about 500 silverbacks in captivity, with a global wild population estimated at 100,000. These numbers are behind the debate on conservation measures, which are noble on the surface, but also problematic.
Biodiversity is extremely important and I lament its deterioration at the hands of humans. But the justification of unnatural, inappropriate enclosures to house human-bred generations of otherwise declining species is not as straightforward as many would like to believe. These efforts are not truly conserving the eroding numbers of a wild species, but displaying a semi-domesticated version of them to the benefit of humans. This fact is neither new nor shocking, but is nonetheless sad.
Rest in peace, Harambe.