CINCINNATI, Ohio.
The May 28th
shooting of the Cincinnati Zoo’s 17-year-old silverback gorilla, Harambe, has
sparked a national conversation about captivity and whether or not the Zoo’s actions
were appropriate.
According
to the Cincinnati
Enquirer, a three-year-old boy reportedly crawled through the barrier and fell
into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo over the Memorial Day weekend.
Video footage of the incident obtained
by CNN showed
the boy being dragged by the silverback, as the crowd panicked. Fearing greater
aggression from Harambe, zoo officials decided to shoot and kill the gorilla. Cincinnati
Enquirer further reported that the boy was rushed to the hospital where he suffered
a concussion and bruising.
CNN reports
that controversy over the Zoo’s decision to kill Harambe has sparked a public
outcry over the incident as well as conversations about the ethics of
captivity. Including the trending topic of “#justiceforHarambe” on social
media.
Cincinnati Zoo President, Thane
Maynard supported the Dangerous Animal Response Team’s decision in a statement
to the press, “It was a tough choice. They made the right choice, because they
saved the boy’s life.” (CNN).
The
Washington Post reports several prominent zookeepers and primatologists,
such as Jack Hanna and Jane Goodall, have commented on the matter both in
support and in objection.
According to CNN, local
police reportedly launched an investigation into the family of the boy, though
charges have not been filed.
Reasoning:
For me, this was the obvious choice for the top national
story of the week. Even though the story broke over the Memorial Day weekend, I
think it is undeniable how ubiquitous the story has since become over this past
week. There’s a lot of elements to decipher based on the rarity of the
situation alone, but also from how many legs the story seems to have. The story
seems to have branched off into conversations about parenting, entitlement,
captivity, conservation, and racism. This was definitely the top story of the
week because everyone seems to have an opinion on it, which also shows just how
ubiquitous, and newsworthy the story is.
Troy,
ReplyDeleteI also chose this story for my top national piece. It's a very controversial and piece of interest. I think you did a great job of showing both of those aspects throughout your writing. I loved how you went into detail about the different kinds of conversations this incident has brought up in your section about reasoning.
Great job!
Thank you for commenting,
ReplyDeleteThis story was so unique, it was such a freak accident, and it had so many legs on social media so I thought it a natural fit as a top story.
Troy,
ReplyDeleteThis is another story I've been paying a lot of attention to, and trying to gather as much information as I can about. At my workplace, there are several TVs to watch, one of which always ends up having some sort of news on it. So, when this story broke, and work was slow, I was always trying to watch for new information.
Really unfortunate situation for both parties involved to be in. From what I know, the zoo was in a lose-lose situation, where they would have been reprimanded on any decision they would have made. Glad the boy is safe at least, but very sad news for Harambe and the zoo. Great job on the story.