Should parents be held responsible for gorilla’s death?
The recent terrifying incident in which a 17-year-old gorilla was shot dead after a four-year-old boy fell into the moat in the endangered animal’s enclosure begs many questions.
The gorilla, named Harambe, initially seemed protective of the boy but appeared to become stressed and confused by the shouting and screaming of visitors at Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. When zoo authorities realised that the gorilla was “violently dragging and throwing the boy”, they decided to shoot the 200kg creature.
Many are now blaming the child’s parents. However, every parent is familiar with the nightmare situation of a child who is there one moment and nowhere to be seen the next.
Should fingers be pointed at the zoo authorities then for failing to secure the enclosure with anything more than a metre-high barrier?
The next question is whether a gorilla’s life is worth more than a child’s? Surely not. Thinking rationally and morally, all will agree that a human life has more value than that of a wild animal’s.
The zoo authorities made a tough choice, but it was the right one in the circumstances because they saved that little boy’s life.
Whether the parents will be charged for child negligence is a big question. My take is that parents should be held responsible for their children’s actions.
Pola Singh
Kuala Lumpur
(From The Star/ANN)
