The Cincinnati Zoo over in the States is facing a massive backlash after it shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla when a 4-year-old kid found his way into its cage.
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The gorilla, named Harambe, was shot dead one day after his 17th birthday and though he didn’t appear to want to harm the child in the 10+ minutes he was in there (he did drag him around a bit to be fair), the zoo felt they had no choice but to shoot him dead.
Apparently the boy was heard asking his mum if he could go into the enclosure and was obviously refused. Somehow he managed to crawl through a railing and then fell about 10ft into the cage.
Western Iowland gorillas are deemed critically endangered by the WWF. Thousands have already joined the Facebook group ‘Justice for Harambe’.
Watch below:
https://twitter.com/Amber_Soler/status/736785301079629825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Amber_Soler/status/736785945194729473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Amber_Soler/status/736801913094574080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Besides everyone freaking out at the zoo for killing Harambe, there’s also naturally been a great deal of abuse sent the parents’ way on social media. Apparently they were looking after a large group of kids so I don’t really blame them. 4-year-old kids run off sometimes – that’s just what they do. What I want to know is how the hell the gorilla enclosure has a gap big enough for a 4-year-old child to fit through. You’d think young kids make up a large percentage of zoo visitors so that does seem a bit unwise on the Cincinatti Zoo’s part. Lawsuit on the way I imagine.
Still, great story for the kid to tell his mates/girls when he’s older. Bit like this guy.
