Animal rights activists react to gorilla killing after child fell into zoo enclosure

Animal rights activists are reacting strongly on social media after a gorilla was killed at a Cincinnati zoo on Saturday.

The 17-year-old male gorilla named Harambe was shot by a team at the zoo after a toddler fell into his enclosure. Video emerged of the terrifying incident, which showed the gorilla handling the four-year-old boy. 

The zoo had to make a call on whether the situation was life-threatening for the child. The Cincinnati Fire Department incident report stated the gorilla was violently dragging and throwing the child. The Dangerous Animal Response Team, which has been trained for these kind of incidents, made the call that the boy was in severe danger and Harambe needed to be put down. 

Tranquilizers can take several minutes to work, so the team decided that the best course of action was to shoot the western lowland gorilla. Lowland gorillas are endangered and Harambe was a beloved member of the zoo.

"The child was not under attack, but all sorts of things could happen," Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said at a press briefing. "He certainly was at risk."

Despite the experts making the difficult call, a number of people on social media have had a strong reaction to the death of Harambe, with the hashtag #RIPHarambe getting traction on Twitter. 

Many people blamed the boy's parents for not protecting him, while others believe the zoo did not do enough to keep people out of the enclosure. A Facebook page "Justice for Harambe" has also been created.

The zoo responded to criticism in a Facebook post, stating this is the first breach of the barrier in 38 years and that a decision had to be made immediately to save the life of the child.

"We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child’s life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made by our Dangerous Animal Response Team," Maynard said, according to the Facebook post.

"Our first response was to call the gorillas out of the exhibit. The two females complied, but Harambe did not. It is important to note that with the child still in the exhibit, tranquilizing the 450-pound gorilla was not an option. Tranquilizers do not take effect for several minutes and the child was in imminent danger. On top of that, the impact from the dart could agitate the animal and cause the situation to get much worse."

Watch the full press conference to hear why the zoo believes it made the right yet difficult decision.

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