The Death of Harambe Doesn't Add Up

'It was the right decision' says zoo director Thane Maynard when talking about why Harambe the gorilla was shot.

That moves the conversation way past 'were gonna have a full enquiry into how this child got into the enclosure in the first place', or 'did zookeepers enter the enclosure in the ten minutes the child was in there with the gorilla?' Neither of which are questions being asked.

But watch the video of the press conference and at 22:45 Maynard admits the child was unhurt.



He was in there for ten minutes, with a silverback gorilla, he had fallen 15 foot and he was unhurt. So the framing of concerns as misanthropy or animal rights blathering is nonsense. Maynard also tells us 'gorillas are dangerous animals' and 'it was not a gentle thing' and 'this was a life threatening situation' . Yes yes but there is a difference between play and being mauled by a gorilla. If that gorilla had intended to maul the boy he wouldn't have lasted ten minutes , and he certainly wouldn't be unhurt.

I don't know if it was right to shoot the gorilla, but I certainly don't think it's a conclusion that can be instantly jumped to. The zoo is at least partly to blame here.  Zoos are supposed to be childproof. Lessons need to be learned, I dont hear that coming from this particular zoo director.

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