Gorilla’s blood on the hands of Cincinnati Zoo, but officials made right call
May 31, 2016, 3:58 PM | Updated: Jun 1, 2016, 2:48 pm
A boy brings flowers to put beside a statue of a gorilla outside the shuttered Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Monday, May 30, 2016, in Cincinnati. A gorilla named Harambe was killed by a special zoo response team on Saturday after a 4-year-old boy slipped into an exhibit and it was concluded his life was in danger. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
I have to hand it to the slactivist crowd: I was sure that this gorilla nonsense would die down over the weekend but they have stuck with it.
They are demanding justice for Harambe — the lowland gorilla who was killed after a child fell into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo — and they will not stop clicking “like” and “retweet” until they get it. Or until their mom calls them up from the basement for dinner.
Look, I get it: Harambe is the only player in this circus that holds zero responsibility. Yet, he is the one that paid with his life. That is lame. Period.
But it is time to suck it up, my buttercups. Let’s start talking like adults.
I often mention my culpability pie when discussing situations like this. How big of a slice does each party have?
Let’s just say that the gorilla has not one ounce of pie. This was NOT Harambe’s fault at all.
As for the kid, he has a thin slice. Remember, we were all 4 years old at one point and made some dumb choices. As a matter of fact, I celebrated dumb choices at that time.
The parents? Well, their slice isn’t equally as thin but still thin. Yes, they lost track of their child in a zoo. As a parent, it is your job to keep your kids safe.
But, by a show of hands, who has NEVER lost track of their kids in a public place? Exactly.
Non-parents, blaming the parents for this mistake is driving me nuts. Stop it. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Now it’s the zoo’s turn. The zoo’s portion of the culpability pie is so big that it can’t be categorized as a slice.
This event is the zoo’s fault. The zoo has a three-foot wall and 15-foot drop separating the public from one of the strongest animals on the planet. It’s amazing that no one was hurt prior to the Harambe ordeal.
Now to the toughest pill for most people to swallow: If it was MY KID or Harambe, the gorilla sees the same fate.
Yes, you can look at the video and play Monday Morning Zookeeper. You can make an argument that Harambe meant no harm and didn’t pose a threat to the child.
But that all comes from hindsight. The zoo employees that were charged with making the decision to pull the trigger made the right decision AT THAT TIME.
It was the boy’s life or Harambe’s. Period.
