I’m sure we have all heard about the tragedy that happened at our own zoo. If you somehow haven’t, a 3-year-old by fell into the Gorilla World enclosure, and the end result was the death Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this event. Many people are quick to blame the mother for not keeping a close eye on her son. Others have turned to the zoo director, demanding that he resign from his duties. There is so much hatred that surrounds this horrible incident, and I get it, I’m upset as well. As an animal lover, I have to say that a tear was brought to my eye when I heard the gorilla was shot. However, there is a bigger picture that a lot of people aren’t seeing: a young boy’s life was saved.

Yes, this all could have been avoided if the boy had been under better supervision. I understand. However, you’re lying if you said you’ve never taken a photo at the zoo. You’re lying if you said you’ve never been distracted. You’re lying if you said you’ve never made a mistake. This mother was just trying a take a photo of the gorillas with her little boy’s hand in her pocket, and like that, he was gone. It only takes a split second for a child to run off. It happens all the time. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. Kids get lost in the zoo all the time, so why aren’t those parents being scrutinized for “not properly watching their children?” Should these parents be charged with endangering their children like this is? She made a mistake that could have cost her the life of her baby, and I don’t doubt that she thinks about that every day!

We also have to respect that these zoo officials did exactly what they were trained to do. We are talking about wild animals her;, that gorilla could have killed that boy within seconds. These officials are trained to access and act on what they think needs to be done to assure the safety of the public. A lot of people are asking, “Why couldn’t a tranquilizer been used?” Again, the zoo officials analyzed this situation and decided that a tranquilizer would have been too dangerous to use; the gorilla could have responded in a way that would cause him to injure the child. They said it was a life-threatening situation, so they did what was needed. I know that if one of my younger cousins or niece somehow got into a zoo enclosure, I would want the zoo officials to do whatever they thought was necessary to make sure they were safe.

The bigger picture here is that we shouldn’t be mad at the Cincinnati Zoo or the mother. We should be mad at the poachers and hunters who are the cause of the animals becoming endangered. The zoo and the mother aren’t the bad guys here, yet they are taking the blame for it. If you take anything out of this article, let it be this: imagine that your younger sibling, cousin, niece/nephew, or child was in the place of that little boy. What would you have wanted the zoo to do? Would the life of that gorilla been more important to you over the life of your younger family member? Just please put yourself into the shoes of that mother, and think about what it would be like to lose someone so young and so close to you over one little mistake you made at the zoo.