Samantha Stahl next author in 2016-2017 MLHS senior student editorial series
Living Free or in the Zoo?
Harambe was a 17-year-old silverback gorilla that was shot dead at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio on May 28, 2016, after a four-year-old boy managed to get into his enclosure.
Many people thought zookeepers should have used a tranquilizer to get the boy away from the gorilla, but the tranquilizer would have taken 10-to-15 minutes to take effect. Meanwhile, Harambe could have hurt, or even killed, the little boy. There was no guarantee it would have worked.
Others say the zookeepers could have distracted Harambe, but this would have put more people at risk.
Even others say they did the right thing by shooting the gorilla dead.
Even though the incident with Harambe was tragic, zoos are still pleasant places for wild animals to life and safe places for people to visit.
I think that the Cincinnati Zoo made the right choice with Harambe. People who love and have a passion for animals also have to think about people’s lives. People’s lives come before animal’s lives.
I believe that zoos are beneficial to people and wild animals in many ways.
One of the advantages is that zoos help educate people to know more about the wild animals in captivity. The animals are entertainment for people, and they are fun to watch. People like to see what animals do while they are awake, and even snuggled up while they sleep.
Zoos provide jobs for people who have a passion for animals; they are also good for community tourism.
Thirdly, the animals are more protected and less endangered in the zoo than they are in the wild. Zoos have made great progress for the animals that have made it on – and back off – the endangerment list. The animals have a more conrolled environment and can be helped by people to stay safe.
The zoos help the animals, and they help us understand the animals more.
There are also many disadvantages to maintaining a zoo. The animal rights activists think it is better for the wild animals to “be free” and “live in the wild.” Some people think that captivity is bad because animals are confined. Others say it is unnatural for the animals to be in a zoo, and they should be released.
However, according to futureofworking.com, “If zoo-born animals are released into the wild, they would have a very difficult time adapting to the environment, given that they do not have an experience of it. They would have to provide for themselves, which is something they are not used to doing.”
In the end, the Cincinnati Zoo made the right choice by taking the life of the gorilla to save the little boy. If I were the mother involved in this tragic event, I would not have wanted to wait for the zookeepers and the tranquilizer to take effect.
Even with the potential danger and disadvantages, zoos are happy, safe places for both people and wild animals.