Earlier this year, we saw the tragic news that a silverback gorilla named Harambe had to be shot dead when a toddler fell into the gorilla?s enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo and was dragged by Harambe around the enclosure.
Officials at the zoo made the heartbreaking decision to shoot Harambe, noting their belief that the boy was in danger.
“It?s easy to say things should have been done differently after the incident was over and the child was safe, but people making those criticisms don’t understand primate biology… and the danger the child was in.” ~ Thane Maynard, Director, Cincinnati Zoo
The child was taken to the hospital, and – by all reports – wasn?t seriously harmed.
Because of this, literally, hundreds of thousands of people took to social media to express their disappointment/sadness/anger/disgust (delete where applicable) at both the actions of the zoo, and the parents of the child.
Because we all live in a perfect world where nothing happens in an instant, and painful decisions need never be made.
Puh-lease….
Whose Shoes Are You In?
In the hours and days following the death of Harambe, there was a massive backlash against the parents of the toddler who fell into the gorilla?s enclosure.
Cries of, ?Terrible parenting!?, ?Hold them accountable?, ?The mother should lose her job!? and more have been bandied around.
Personally, as a parent of two young children myself, I wonder how many of these crying foul are themselves parents.
Because trust me, no matter how good a parent you think you are, all it takes is a split second for you to become ?a bad parent?.
My wife and I have two kids, our son who is six and our daughter who?s four.
Like any kids that age, they love to explore, push boundaries, experiment, and push beyond what they already know of the world.
That means they can be walking with you one minute, running away the next.
Splashing in the toddler pool one minute, racing toward the deep end the next.
Pushing their bike beside you one minute, cycling away from you like a world racing champ the next. Until they crash, which my son did in fine style last week…
The point being, a split second is all it takes for kids to potentially wreak havoc on either themselves, someone else, or you. Maybe all three.
Because that?s what kids fucking do!
And no amount of ?Best Parent in the World? badge that the Internet Hate Mob (IHM) believes every parent should adhere to is ever going to change that.
Any parent knows how their kids are essentially ninjas in waiting, just looking for the exact moment they can escape our grasp.
Any parent that says, ?My kid is always under control? is either a great fibber, has a distorted sense of reality or is someone with an immense imagination.
And that?s not a criticism, just a simple fact. Don?t believe me? Ask your own parents on how under control you were as a kid…
Mistakes Happen, Tragedies Occur, Hate Solves Nothing
Make no mistake, this whole tragic event is exactly that – a tragedy.
- A beautiful, endangered species has one less gorilla in it today to keep the population going.
- A zoo had to make the terrible decision to kill one of its animals. And believe me, good zoos treat every death of one of their animals as a huge personal loss.
- A mother has essentially had to go into hiding because of harassment and threats.
- A toddler may just be beginning a journey of nightmares and flashbacks about the day in question.
Questions have been raised, along with suggestions made.
- Why did the parent(s) not have better control?
- Why did the zoo not have better safety set-ups?
- Why did Harambe have to be killed? Why couldn?t he have been tranquilized?
I?ve shared my thoughts on the first point. The zoo would be the best to ask about the second, and whether it was a valid question or not.
As for the third, experts say it would have taken 3-5 minutes for any tranquilizer to kick in.
Given that a silverback has the strength of eight grown men, and could (would?) have become agitated with the dart in him, 3-5 minutes is a long time for a four-year-old child to survive.
For anyone to survive.?
Of course, the IHM negate this and say the zoo should have taken that chance.
Fine – jump into a gorilla enclosure, ask the zookeeper to shoot the largest one with a tranquilizer dart, then see how well you get on in there.
Don?t want to find out? Didn?t think so.
Instead of blasting the zoo and the parents, and questioning their right to even have children, let?s look at how we can truly avoid tragedies like this in future.
We can all point blame. We can all point fingers. Truth is, none of us?know what would happen until it happens to us.
No amount of hate and vitriol towards the toddler?s mum is going to bring Harambe back.
No amount of ?justice needs to be served? is going to change the fact that, for a split second, a child managed to escape his mum?s watch.
No amount of ?justice needs to be served? is going to change the fact that, for a split second, a child managed to escape his mum?s watch.
And no amount of keyboard warriors is going to change the fact that this is a shitty situation all round.
Rein in the hate. No-one wins there.