I could barely watch the Cincinnati gorilla video.
I couldn’t stand to see that little boy being dragged through the water. I also couldn’t bear to hear the screams and commotion of the crowd, because every person who was not strapped in a stroller at that moment must have been horrified, knowing that in a split second they might see a gorilla rip a little boy to shreds.
The hate and abuse that has been hurled at the boy’s mother disturbs me. At best, some people acknowledge that she was briefly but dangerously unaware of her son. But many people think she is a criminal who caused the murder of an innocent animal by failing to stop her son from falling into the gorilla enclosure.
She had to be terrified. Although I could only stomach enough of the video to hear the mother trying to reassure him, telling him to be brave, it was enough for me to notice that her little boy was EXTRAORDINARILY brave. When the gorilla sat him down in the water, he slowly tried to scoot away. He didn’t scream or cry. Would the boy have reacted differently if he had heard his mother screaming in hysteria? Would the gorilla have reacted differently if the boy became hysterical?
A lot of moms insist they would have jumped the fence, scrambled through the bushes, and dove 15 feet into the moat to personally wrest their child from the gorilla.
I’d like to think I would have done that, too. But in reality, gorillas might not treat raging human mama bears as nice as they treat helpless little boys. Even a protective mother’s noblest action would seem foolish if both mother and son failed to survive the attempt.
When I remember how hard it was to corral a bunch of excited, rambunctious kids at the zoo, and recall the added difficulty of dealing with a headstrong child, I can only thank God that one or more of my own sons never escaped my ever-present watchfulness to land in the bottom of a gorilla moat.
Maybe I’m taking an unpopular position, but I feel compassion for the mother. I think it’s possible that her boy survived because she didn’t FREAK OUT.
I cried when I heard that the gorilla was shot and killed. I hated watching that small bit of video because it broke my heart to think that this beautiful, innocent animal tragically lost its life a few minutes later.
But I, for one, would absolutely have been more devastated if that brave, little boy had been killed instead.
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13 Comments
Absolutely awesome perspective, Ann. Bravo!
Thank you Nancy. That terrible incident really made me think.
People wrongly assume the safety of zoos. You are taking your child to a place where wild, exotic, and extremely dangerous animals live. I agree that it was the only decision to shoot the gorilla. Although I don’t believe the parents did anything criminal, it seems no one wants to hold them responsible. If a child darts out into traffic and is hit by a car, accident or not, the caretaker is responsible. This is no different. Perhaps my perspective comes from seeing way too many kids getting lost or in trouble while their parents are taking selfies and posting them on Instagram. I’d be interested to know what the mom was really doing when he ran off. Great post, Ann!
That’s a really good point, Jen. And you’re right. Our cell phone culture creates easy distraction, which can endanger our kids. Thanks so much for your comment.
People wrongly assume the safety of zoos. You are taking your child to a place where wild, exotic, and extremely dangerous animals live. I agree that it was the only decision to shoot the gorilla. Although I don’t believe the parents did anything criminal, it seems no one wants to hold them responsible. If a child darts out into traffic and is hit by a car, accident or not, the caretaker is responsible. This is no different. Perhaps my perspective comes from seeing way too many kids getting lost or in trouble while their parents are taking selfies and posting them on Instagram. I’d be interested to know what the mom was really doing when he ran off. Great post, Ann!
That’s a really good point, Jen. And you’re right. Our cell phone culture creates easy distraction, which can endanger our kids. Thanks so much for your comment.
No doubt, this was one of these events when things went wrong.
By chance, today, I saw a zookeeper from the Miami Zoo, where the late Harambe had been visiting in some kind of exchange program a while ago, talk about the event. This man knew Harambe so to speak “personally.”
He said, “Make no mistake, at this very minute every zoo in the world is checking their fences, their enclosures, their protocols. They may be saying, “everything is fine here,” but behind closed doors everybody is reevaluating every detail.”
I hope that that is true, so at least some good will come from this tragedy.
What amazes me is that a 3-year old could so easily get into the enclosure and he’s lucky he didn’t get hurt in the 15-foot fall into the moat. It’s encouraging to know that zoos are re-evaluating their security because no one ever wants this to happen again. Thanks so much for your comment!
No doubt, this was one of these events when things went wrong.
By chance, today, I saw a zookeeper from the Miami Zoo, where the late Harambe had been visiting in some kind of exchange program a while ago, talk about the event. This man knew Harambe so to speak “personally.”
He said, “Make no mistake, at this very minute every zoo in the world is checking their fences, their enclosures, their protocols. They may be saying, “everything is fine here,” but behind closed doors everybody is reevaluating every detail.”
I hope that that is true, so at least some good will come from this tragedy.
When you’re in a situation like this, it is difficult to make a decision, especially when there is little time to make one. It was a scary and tragic situation where people had to react right away. I feel bad for both the boy and the gorilla. It’s just one of those stories when nobody gets a happy ending, no matter what the outcome may be.
You’re exactly right, Alicia. Everyone’s playing the blame game now. But at least that little boy is alive.Thanks so much for your comment.
When you’re in a situation like this, it is difficult to make a decision, especially when there is little time to make one. It was a scary and tragic situation where people had to react right away. I feel bad for both the boy and the gorilla. It’s just one of those stories when nobody gets a happy ending, no matter what the outcome may be.
You’re exactly right, Alicia. Everyone’s playing the blame game now. But at least that little boy is alive.Thanks so much for your comment.