A black mother doesn’t watch her kid and as a result, a gorilla is dead.
NYT: Zoo’s Killing of Gorilla Holding a Boy Prompts Outrage
It seemed like quick thinking when the Cincinnati Zoo shot to death a gorilla that was manhandling a small boy who had fallen into its enclosure on Saturday afternoon.
But soon supporters of animal rights were organizing a vigil outside the zoo in remembrance of the gorilla, named Harambe, a male weighing more than 420 pounds. Online petitions circulated blaming the mother of the child for negligence. By Monday the chorus of outrage had reached such an intense pitch that the zoo held a news conference to defend itself.
Speaking to reporters, Thane Maynard, the zoo’s director, forcefully rejected the second-guessing of what he called “Monday morning quarterbacks” over the decision to kill the gorilla, one of an endangered species, instead of using a tranquilizer dart.
After the 4-year-old boy breached a barrier to the Gorilla World exhibit and fell into its moat, Harambe seemed to take an intense interest in the child.
“The child was being dragged around,” Mr. Maynard said. “His head was banging on concrete. This was not a gentle thing. The child was at risk.”
Mr. Maynard said a tranquilizer would have taken precious minutes to knock out the western lowland gorilla, while the impact of the dart might have startled him, posing an even graver danger.
Mr. Maynard said the animal was capable of crushing a coconut with his hands. The boy was lucky that Harambe had not done so to him, if only out of carelessness, he said, noting that the gorilla had become agitated and disoriented by screams from the crowd.
Outside the zoo on Monday, the gorilla’s supporters held placards that read “R.I.P. Harambe,” “Because his life mattered” and “In loving memory, Harambe.” Inside, flowers were placed at a gorilla statue.
COMMENT:
* Actually, the child, and the (apparently unmarried) parents of the child are African Americans.
So this is a case of #blacklivesmatter trumping #gorillalives matter. However, I’m with you, I don’t want to see the headline someday “Last Living Panda Slain After Tot Enters Enclosure.”
I recognize the dignity of human life but if we don’t extend it to the animal kingdom we are not doing it right. Moreover, the human race is nowhere near threatened. Many non-human species are.
