Toledo paper calls for boycott of Cincinnati, firing of zoo official

An editorial from an Ohio newspaper today calls for the firing of the head of the Cincinnati Zoo after the death of an endangered gorilla.

An editorial in the Toledo Blade blasts Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard, saying his public statements that he made the right call to shoot the gorilla because of the possibility of it harming a 3-year-old boy who climbed into the exhibit warrant his firing.

Excerpts from the editorial state:

“Experts say that the animal would have beaten its breast and approached the child peripherally had he meant him harm.

But the zoo decided to shoot and kill the gorilla.

Zoo officials should not have done that. They misjudged the animal’s actions. Moreover, zoo and law enforcement officials could have used a tranquilizer dart, which, if employed properly, would have put the animal down quickly. The tranquilizer and someone who knew how to shoot the dart, and in the proper dosage, should have been readily available.

The zoo director, Thane Maynard, says he would do the same thing if he had it to do over again. And for that, above all else, he should be fired.”

The editorial goes on to say that Toledoans should boycott the Cincinnati Zoo and all things Cincinnati — “even its poorly performing baseball team.”

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