There sure has been a lot of casting stones this weekend over the situation with the four year old little boy and the gorilla.  I’ll admit when I first saw the video footage from the media, it did appear that the gorilla was being gentle with the little boy.  That is until I saw what the news media edited out on their video!  It wasn’t until another news station out of the UK posted footage of the gorilla dragging the little boy through the water that changed all of that.

I know everyone is up in arms about the mother being at the zoo with other children and taking her eyes off of this little one.  We all know what resulted after the boy made his way into the enclosure, fell into the moat, as bystanders watched in horror of what was unfolding right before their eyes.

What angers me is that the news media only posts what they want you to see.  They aren’t giving you the full story, and yet they expect you to base your opinions on what they report.  Having not seen the extended video until much later, I was outraged that they would kill this “protective” gorilla.  When I saw the gorilla in the unedited video yanking the child like a rag doll, my opinion quickly changed.

I am an animal lover through and through.  It pains me to think that we just celebrated this gorilla’s 17th birthday a few days before this happened, and now, he is dead as a result of this tragic event.

The mother was heard in the video saying, “Mommy’s here.”  “Stay calm.”  “Mommy loves you.”

I honestly believe she was frightened for her little boy’s safety, yet she was trying to keep him calm so he did not agitate the gorilla.

The question a lot of people are asking is where was “Mommy” minutes before the little boy made his way through the enclosure?  In their minds, she was negligent by not watching the boy who just expressed an interest in going to play in the moat.  I’m sure she never in her widest dreams would have imagined him gaining access to the enclosure to do just that.  Yet, he did.

Then the next question others are asking is WHY wasn’t the enclosure secure enough to prevent ANY one from getting inside in the first place?

I imagine the mother feels just awful about this, and I’m certain the zoo feels awful about it as well.

Why aren’t we extending grace to BOTH instead of being outraged and casting stones?

It is a very sad and unfortunate situation that ended in the tragic loss of a 17 year old gorilla.  I loved seeing pictures of this beautiful Silverback, yet I realize his size and strength!  The four year old boy was no match for this gorilla, and I’m just thankful that the little boy’s life was spared.

There is argument as to WHY they didn’t use a tranquilizer gun on the gorilla.  Why was it necessary to KILL the gorilla?  I once questioned this myself until I realized that no one knows what effect the tranquilizer would have had on the gorilla. Furthermore, the tranquilizer would not have worked immediately on a gorilla that size!  I think of the times we’ve had our donkey and horses sedated for procedures that were being done on them.  When the donkey was castrated last year, none of us knew what this donkey was going to do.  Everyone stood way back as the vet and his technicians administered the sedation.  Even then, they made sure to stay clear of him until they could see how it was going to affect the donkey.  The same was done when the vet and the techs sedated our horses so they could float their teeth at the beginning of the year.  You just never know how an animal will react, and it is best to stay out of their way until you do!  Further, just as I saw with the donkey and horses, these animals weigh over a thousand pounds, so it is going to take longer for the sedation to work.  It did not happen instantaneously with the donkey and horses, and it would NOT have been instant with the gorilla either.

I feel the zoo officials did what they had to do in order to spare the little boy’s life.

There is argument now that the mother should be charged due to the death of the gorilla.  We hold animals in captivity for our viewing pleasure.  We pay good money to go into zoos around the nation to look at these wild and often times extinct animals.  If the mother is going to be charged and have to pay for the death of this gorilla, what about the suicidal man that jumped into the lion exhibit a few weeks ago?

I know for me, I try to keep an eye on my children at all times, especially when we are out in public!  For whatever reason, this mother took her eyes off of her adventurous child, or maybe he scrambled from her sight so fast that she was unable to grab him before he went through the enclosure and fell into the moat.

It is beyond frustrating that people seemingly act irresponsible and innocent people, or animals in this case, are hurt or even killed!  The gorilla was going about his day being on display as others around took pictures, talked to him, etc., and then a foreign object falls near him.   I’m sure the gorilla was curious, yet also wishing to protect his habitat. The next we saw unfold in the edited and unedited versions of the video.  I’m certain the little boy was in danger or else the zoo officials would not have taken the action that they did.  Yet, we’re still left frustrated over it!  However, if this was your child, I am certain you would want the zoo officials to do just what they did in this case to spare your child’s life.  I wish both of their lives would have been spared, but sadly, this was not possible.

Should the mother have been watching her child?  YES!  Should the enclosure have been where no human could have gained access?  YES!  There is fault on BOTH sides, but pointing fingers will NOT bring this 17 year old gorilla back to life nor will it erase the injuries the boy sustained from the fall and being dragged through the water by the gorilla.  Hopefully, it will teach the mother to keep a better watch over her children.  I can only hope that this will leave a lasting impression on the CHILD also so that he will obey in the future!  And lastly, I hope that zoos every where will look at ALL of their enclosures to ensure that no one can gain access after these two incidents within weeks of each other where humans were able to get inside with the wild animals.

At a time like this, let’s stop casting stones.  Instead, mourn the loss of a gorilla that entertained so many people in the 17 years he was alive, AND whisper thanks to God for sparing the life of this four year old little boy who has so much living left to do.