: “He was a character…He grew up to be a beautiful, beautiful animal, never aggressive and never mean,” said Jerry Stones who raised Harambe since birth.

: “He was a character…He grew up to be a beautiful, beautiful animal, never aggressive and never mean,” said Jerry Stones who raised Harambe since birth.
Photo Credit: CBC

Killing of gorilla raises questions about zoos

A Cincinnati zoo’s decision to shoot and kill a gorilla has sparked dramatic and wildly varying reaction. A four-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure on Saturday. A 200-kg male gorilla named Harambe at times seemed protective of the boy but then dragged him through shallow water amid much shouting and commotion. The director of the zoo said the decision to kill the gorilla was the right one.

Onlookers were horrified to see a child in a Cincinnati zoo enclosure with a 200-kg gorilla on May 28, 2016.
Onlookers were horrified to see a child in a Cincinnati zoo enclosure with a 200-kg gorilla on May 28, 2016. © CBC

Zoo and parents blamed by public

One animal protection group wants the U.S. government to hold the zoo responsible for the death of an endangered gorilla. Other people have castigated the parents for not keeping a closer watch over their child. But Canadian Barry Mackay, co-founder of Zoocheck says the incident should make everyone reconsider whether gorillas should be kept in zoos at all.

Mackay says he is annoyed when he sees parents arrive at zoos and let their children run free, sometimes to the detriment of the animals. He feels parents have a responsibility to watch over their children. But he also believes there is no way a child should be able to get into any animal enclosure.

People gathered outside the Cincinnati zoo to mourn the death of Harambe who was an endangered western lowland gorilla.
People gathered outside the Cincinnati zoo to mourn the death of Harambe who was an endangered western lowland gorilla. © John Minchillo/AP Photo

Gorilla behaviour was impossible to predict

Mackay says he knows of one case where a child fell into a gorilla enclosure. One of the animals picked up the child and brought it back to people watching. But that doesn’t mean the same would have happened in this case.

The Cincinnati zoo probably had a protocol for such a situation and could not risk the child being hurt or killed, and a possible lawsuit, says Mackay. He adds that while gorillas will not attack humans in the wild, they are different when they are taken out of their environments.

In captivity, animals can become ‘psychotic’

“When animals are kept in captivity like that sometimes they act in ways that they don’t in the wild. In fact, it’s very normal. They become psychotic or have mental problems you can see this…you can see the animals pacing up and down in the exact same pattern for long periods of time.”

Listen
Zoocheck’s Barry Mackay says money for zoos would be better spent on protecting animals in the wild.
Zoocheck’s Barry Mackay says money for zoos would be better spent on protecting animals in the wild.

Money for zoos could be better spent, says activist

If there is anything positive to come of this case, say Mackay, it would be for people question the existence of zoos. “Zoos are very, very contrived, artificial…very impoverished in terms of the amount of interaction the animal has with its environment.”

He thinks people should question zoo assertions that they add to conservation efforts by housing and breeding endangered animals. Mackay thinks that all the money that goes into building and running zoos would be far better spent on conservation and protection efforts in the animals’ natural habitats.

Barry Mackay says zoos try to recreate a gorilla’s natural habitat but it is ‘very, very contrived…very impoverished.”
Barry Mackay says zoos try to recreate a gorilla’s natural habitat but it is ‘very, very contrived…very impoverished.” © Courtesy Cincinnati Zoo

Child released from hospital

The child in this case was injured and taken to hospital, but has since been released. The director of the Cincinnati facility insists the zoo is safe but a review is underway to see if it can be made safer.

Categories: Environment & Animal Life, Society
Tags: , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.