I can't help but to put my two cents in on the death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. I actually didn't know that it even happened since we were up at the cabin for the weekend with no cell service or internet access. We did have a TV, but since it was raining all weekend and we were in a cabin with 2 small children, the TV hardly left Disney Channel. Anyways, for those of you that don't know, a small boy (one report I read said 3 and another said 4 year old) apparently made his way in to a gorilla habitat at a zoo while his mother was distracted. A large endangered male silverback gorilla ended up finding the boy and started dragging him around "aggressively" and the decision was made to shoot the gorilla in order to protect the boy. All day now, I have been seeing memes that basically say that the Harambe would still be alive if that mother had just kept an eye on her kid. I find myself rather torn...
As an animal lover, I am appalled that the gorilla was shot. As an asshole, I think they should have played a simple numbers game and decided that there are plenty of humans already, but the gorilla is endangered. But as a new parent...I get the decision. For several reasons. Nobody that has EVER spent time around small children can't tell me that those little shits can turn in to ninjas when they want to. Elizabeth isn't 2 months old yet, but somehow she manages to kick and hit her way to what ever the hell she wants! I consider myself a very involved and attentive parent, but last week my dumb ass didn't have the car seat clicked in all the way. Shit happens and I'm not sure that the mother can be TOTALLY to blame on this one. Again, as a new parent, I will tell you right now that if I was in her shoes and Elizabeth was getting tossed around a gorilla habitat and a zoo representative told me that they needed to protect the gorilla...I am confident that I would turn in to some sort of Rambo type character. Endangered or not, if an animal was tossing Elizabeth around I would gleefully snap its neck and shower in its blood and then make a rug out of it. Hate to get graphic, but it's true.
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| Ready for the zoo sweetie? |
One primatologist even weighed in and said that it was probably the screaming of the crowd that got Harambe agitated and that's why he started to get so aggressive. So, is it any ONE person's fault? No. But the whole situation has me freaking terrified now. The one story I read about it said that the little boy made it through 2 different barriers. My mother cursed me when I was a little boy when I was being a real shithead and said "I hope you have a kid someday that is just as naughty as you!". Now I have visions of Elizabeth being a little shithead just like her father was and I KNOW that I could have made it through 2 barriers meant to keep me out of a gorilla habitat! Lesson learned: don't bring Elizabeth to a zoo...EVER. Or at least if I do, I should put her in the same contraption that they put Hannibal Lecter in for his court appearance.
I guess my degree in Primatology from Google U probably isn't enough to make any informed decision, but I do know that although it is a tragedy that Harambe had to be killed, it could have been an even bigger tragedy if that little boy had been killed by an animal that is 6 times stronger than an average man. Thanks for reading everyone. This "prost" is for Harambe...bottoms up man. Cheers.
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