Denise Cortes: I Would Shoot 10 Gorillas If My Child’s Life Was In Danger

This weekend, my Facebook timeline was flooded with people mourning the death of Harambe, a 400-pound, 17-year-old western lowland silverback gorilla who was shot and killed on Saturday, May 28, after a 4-year-old boy tumbled into Cincinnati Zoo’s gorilla exhibit. Although Harambe seemed calm at first — protective of the boy, even — witnesses say he became agitated with the chaos of the unfolding scene. The video of Harambe dragging the little boy around in the water of the moat took my breath away.

The zoo’s Dangerous Animal Response Team decided to use deadly force instead of tranquilizers to subdue the gorilla because it would’ve taken too long for the drug to take effect when the animal was in an agitated state. This is a sad situation all around — sad for the family going through a traumatic event when they no doubt just planned a fun day at the zoo with their children, and sad for a majestic animal that lost his life.

Yet, people are outraged. They are signing “Justice for Harambe” petitions, they are creating horrible memes, they are leaving hateful, racist comments on the internets blaming the mother of being neglectful — in short, they want the parents of this little boy to be held responsible for the life of Harambe. Which is crazy, in my humble opinion. There has been so much vitriol directed at the parents of this little boy, I’m astounded.

The sobering truth is, when you’re a mom, there will be moments (many of them) when your child will wiggle away from your grasp. Some children just have a gift of stealth. It’s frightening. Ask any mom and she can supply you with a handful of hair-raising stories. If you ask a mom of boys, she might have more than a handful. Ask a mom with a large family, like myself, and she may just talk your ear off all night. Does it mean we’re terrible mothers? Does it mean our children are neglected? Does it mean you have the right to judge others? No. Absolutely not.

An eyewitness from the New York Times said this, “I don’t feel like it was neglectful. She had three other kids that she was with. She had a baby in her arms. It was literally the blink of an eye.” She added: “I saw it, and I couldn’t even prevent it. It happened so fast.”

Stuff happens. Bad stuff. Scary stuff. Sometimes, we just have to thank the heavens that our children lived to tell the tale.

I’m the type of person who feels a certain level of anxiety and discomfort whenever I have to visit a place where animals are in captivity. The knowledge that large, wild animals are nearby and separated by only a plane of glass or a fence only intensifies those feelings. Having one of my children fall into an animal enclosure (whether at the zoo or an aquarium) has to be one of my worst fears.

I can’t imagine the fear and panic the parents of this little boy were feeling. Even if this animal is known to be peaceful, this could have gone wrong in so many ways. I’m so thankful it didn’t and I’m grateful that the Cincinnati Zoo did the right thing and they’re standing by their decision.

I love majestic animals too, but if it was dragging around one of my children by the ankle — anyone’s child, for that matter — I wouldn’t bat an eyelash at shooting him dead.

Amanda O’Donoughue
May 30 at 8:25pm ·

I am going to try to clear up a few things that have been weighing on me about Harambe and the Cinci Zoo since I read the news this afternoon.
I have worked with Gorillas as a zookeeper while in my twenties (before children) and they are my favorite animal (out of dozens) that I have ever worked closely with. I am gonna go ahead and list a few facts, thoughts and opinions for those of you that aren’t familiar with the species itself, or how a zoo operates in emergency situations.

Now Gorillas are considered ‘gentle giants’ at least when compared with their more aggressive cousins the chimpanzee, but a 400+ pound male in his prime is as strong as roughly 10 adult humans. What can you bench press? OK, now multiply that number by ten. An adult male silverback gorilla has one job, to protect his group. He does this by bluffing or intimidating anything that he feels threatened by.

Gorillas are considered a Class 1 mammal, the most dangerous class of mammals in the animal kingdom, again, merely due to their size and strength. They are grouped in with other apes, tigers, lions, bears, etc.
While working in an AZA accredited zoo with Apes, keepers DO NOT work in contact with them. Meaning they do NOT go in with these animals. There is always a welded mesh barrier between the animal and the humans.
In more recent decades, zoos have begun to redesign enclosures, removing all obvious caging and attempting to create a seamless view of the animals for the visitor to enjoy watching animals in a more natural looking habitat. *this is great until little children begin falling into exhibits* which of course can happen to anyone, especially in a crowded zoo-like setting.

I have watched this video over again, and with the silverback’s postering, and tight lips, it’s pretty much the stuff of any keeper’s nightmares, and I have had MANY while working with them. This job is not for the complacent. Gorillas are kind, curious, and sometimes silly, but they are also very large, very strong animals. I always brought my OCD to work with me. checking and rechecking locks to make sure my animals and I remained separated before entering to clean.

I keep hearing that the Gorilla was trying to protect the boy. I do not find this to be true. Harambe reaches for the boys hands and arms, but only to position the child better for his own displaying purposes.
Males do very elaborate displays when highly agitated, slamming and dragging things about. Typically they would drag large branches, barrels and heavy weighted balls around to make as much noise as possible. Not in an effort to hurt anyone or anything (usually) but just to intimidate. It was clear to me that he was reacting to the screams coming from the gathering crowd.

Harambe was most likely not going to separate himself from that child without seriously hurting him first (again due to mere size and strength, not malicious intent) Why didn’t they use treats? well, they attempted to call them off exhibit (which animals hate), the females in the group came in, but Harambe did not. What better treat for a captive animal than a real live kid!
They didn’t use Tranquilizers for a few reasons, A. Harambe would’ve taken too long to become immobilized, and could have really injured the child in the process as the drugs used may not work quickly enough depending on the stress of the situation and the dose B. Harambe would’ve have drowned in the moat if immobilized in the water, and possibly fallen on the boy trapping him and drowning him as well.
Many zoos have the protocol to call on their expertly trained dart team in the event of an animal escape or in the event that a human is trapped with a dangerous animal. They will evaluate the scene as quickly and as safely as possible, and will make the most informed decision as how they will handle the animal.
I can’t point fingers at anyone in this situation, but we need to really evaluate the safety of the animal enclosures from the visitor side. Not impeding that view is a tough one, but there should be no way that someone can find themselves inside of an animal’s exhibit.
I know one thing for sure, those keepers lost a beautiful, and I mean gorgeous silverback and friend. I feel their loss with them this week. As educators and conservators of endangered species, all we can do is shine a light on the beauty and majesty of these animals in hopes to spark a love and a need to keep them from vanishing from our planet. Child killers, they are not. It’s unfortunate for the conservation of the species, and the loss of revenue a beautiful zoo such as Cinci will lose. tragedy all around.

*me working (very carefully) with a 400+ pound silverback circa 2009

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