Last weekend at the Cincinnati Zoo, a child got curious and a gorilla got shot. The 4-year-old boy crawled past a barricade and fell into a moat surrounding the enclosure housing Harambe, whose 17th birthday had been celebrated the day before. In the 10 minutes the two spent together, Harambe showed no intention of harming the boy, but he did drag him around the moat by the leg, with a speed and force that could have drowned him or cracked his skull.

Zoo officials chose to shoot Harambe as the only way to guarantee the child's safety. Darting Harambe with a tranquilizer gun was judged too risky as the drugs don't take immediate effect; the act might have enraged the gorilla before sedating him.

KOB PLET