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Why are people so upset about this harambes killing?

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The mother is to blame here: her negligence has led to a beautiful animal being killed. If anything she should be the one who is shot.
Original post by nineteenone
Well, considering he's 4, it mustn't have been that hard for him to get into the enclosure so either there wasn't enough safety put into place, or there was an easy way in.


Or, I'm just speculating here, his mum lifted him onto a wall that would have been impossible for a four year old to surmount on his own and he fell in.
They should have let the child be killed by the gorilla, and then chucked the mother in too. The child has likely inherited the stupid genes.

It's a shame gorillas are vegetarians.
Reply 23
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viddy9
16
Original post by intelligent con
First of all millions of animals are killed every day to give you mcdonalds or KFC and none of you seem to care about that. Secondly people who actually live in countries with these animals know how vicious they are so don't care if they are killed. Why people seem to think animal life is equal to human life is beyond me.


Plenty of us, including myself, care about the horrific treatment of nonhuman animals in the meat industry as well as the killing of a gorilla.

Some animals (chimpanzees and other primates; elephants; dolphins; whales; and some birds) are rational and self-aware, so have an interest in continuing to live, whilst some humans (human infants and severely intellectually disabled humans) don't. Even the animals we raise for meat are demonstrably more intelligent than the aforementioned groups of humans, yet if we treated these humans in the way in which we treated nonhuman animals, there would be outrage, and rightly so.

Animal life, in general, isn't equal to human life, because most humans have a greater interest in continuing to live. However, we should equally consider the comparable interests of all sentient beings - similar interests require similar treatment, regardless of the species an individual belongs to. For instance, if we wouldn't keep humans in the conditions in which we keep the animals we raise for meat; we shouldn't keep nonhumans in these conditions either: both groups have a similar interest in not being confined in these conditions.

Similarly, we should be seriously taking into account the interests of a gorilla in these types of situations, particularly as gorillas are very intelligent and probably have some preference to continue to live, and some perception of themselves existing over a time continuum. It is an incredible shame that the negligence of a human mother led to this gorilla dying.
Original post by Serpentine111
The mother is to blame here: her negligence has led to a beautiful animal being killed. If anything she should be the one who is shot.


Bit harsh
Original post by James82
Nothing makes us different, the gorilla population would be on the side of the gorilla in this situation, but as a human it is a natural instinct to value your species above all others.



I fully agree, which is why the parents are to blame for not keeping their child safe.

Don't get me wrong, if this had been a competent adult who purposely entered the enclosure I would be all for the gorilla.


Then we're in agreement. Of course there was no option, but OP asked why people are upset and I replied with us not being more valued (relative to a third party, I agree that relative to humans their own are more valued). And we're also upset because it was avoidable on the parent's part.

So we agree :smile:
Reply 26
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P357
12
Original post by george-90
They should have let the child be killed by the gorilla, and then chucked the mother in too. The child has likely inherited the stupid genes.

It's a shame gorillas are vegetarians.


Original post by Serpentine111
The mother is to blame here: her negligence has led to a beautiful animal being killed. If anything she should be the one who is shot.


Nothing more vile than the sheer psychopathy of your average peta zoophile freak...The world would be a much better place if we treated them like the animals they see as their own equals.
Original post by Proxenus
How do you measure value? What perspective are you looking from?


An objective view of the worth of one living organism compared with another, outside the perspective of a specific species.
Original post by george-90
They should have let the child be killed by the gorilla, and then chucked the mother in too. The child has likely inherited the stupid genes.

It's a shame gorillas are vegetarians.


This was a Western Lowland Gorilla, they are not vegetarian.
Original post by James82
Or, I'm just speculating here, his mum lifted him onto a wall that would have been impossible for a four year old to surmount on his own and he fell in.


That could've possibly happened... Then it's all the mother's fault and she should be sued, because she caused a situation in which an endangered animal had to be shot dead.


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Original post by teenhorrorstory
Bit harsh


Not really, cos either (like someone else said) she was holding her son on her shoulders and he fell, or her son left her and found a way in the enclosure. So either she dropped him or she wasn't paying enough attention to see that her young child had left her and fell into a gorilla enclosure... It's pretty much all her fault and she should be held responsible.


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Original post by nineteenone
That could've possibly happened... Then it's all the mother's fault and she should be sued, because she caused a situation in which an endangered animal had to be shot dead.


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I fully agree, what's the going rate of a West Lowland Gorilla?
Original post by James82
I suspect you're in the minority believing that, because it's patently absurd.




Yes, I agree, it was the parents' fault that the incident occurred and they should be sued by the zoo for the loss of their attraction.

But once the boy was in danger what were the zoo keepers supposed to do? Stand there and potentially watch an innocent 4 year old get torn to shreds? I suspect they would have got much more flak if that had happened.


Respectfully, if the Gorilla intended to do that, he would have. However, the fact is that he didn't and indeed was showing signs of protective behaviour.

A gorilla (most cases) only attacks as violently as you have suggested when threatened. This gorilla was certainly not threatened by a 4 year old child, if he was, everyone would have known.

Also, even if taking action is most appropriate, why not use tranquilizers, or distract him with bananas which is what another zoo did?
Original post by James82
This was a Western Lowland Gorilla, they are not vegetarian.


Herbivores then, same difference when it comes to hunting humans.
Original post by James82
I fully agree, what's the going rate of a West Lowland Gorilla?


I'm pretty sure there's around 500 left in zoos worldwide??? But what actually caught my eye is that this particular zoo is where they try to breed these species and losing a male gorilla was a pretty big loss for them..


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Original post by P357
Nothing more vile than the sheer psychopathy of your average peta zoophile freak...The world would be a much better place if we treated them like the animals they see as their own equals.


The zoo should have also chucked each peta fanatic in one by one to be crushed by the gorilla, along with any other spawn of that inept woman.
Original post by george-90
Herbivores then, same difference when it comes to hunting humans.


West Lowland Gorillas are omnivores, not herbivores.

They will still kill something they see as a threat or when they are agitated, not just because they want to eat it.
Original post by P357
Nothing more vile than the sheer psychopathy of your average peta zoophile freak...The world would be a much better place if we treated them like the animals they see as their own equals.


Couldn't agree more
Tbh one 4 year old child wouldn't be a massive loss, there are plenty of humans anyway, unlike Western Lowland gorillas which are critically endangered.
Original post by Dom2375
Tbh one 4 year old child wouldn't be a massive loss, there are plenty of humans anyway, unlike Western Lowland gorillas which are critically endangered.


True but imagine the fire the zoo would come under if they let a 4 year old child die.. And then the mum would have the upper hand in the situation even though it was probably her fault that her kid fell into the enclosure in the first place.

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