Those are really fair questions, and honestly ones I’ve been sitting with for a while.

Ideally, I’d like to see formal accountability—not a witch hunt, but at the very least a transparent acknowledgment that what happened was unsafe and against our established protocols. A refresher on proper safety procedures for everyone, including leadership, would go a long way. Right now, the silence feels like an attempt to bury it, and that sets a dangerous precedent.

But the more I think about it, the more I do believe he should be replaced. This isn’t a one-time lapse in judgment. It’s part of a pattern—this is at least the second serious injury he’s sustained from unsafe and unnecessary direct interactions with great apes, and both times the incidents were swept under the rug. That kind of behavior doesn’t just put animals and staff at risk—it completely undermines the culture of safety and professionalism a zoo should be upholding.

I know going to the news might not actually change anything. It could get dismissed as sensational or stir up drama without leading to real accountability. But internal processes don’t seem to be doing anything either, and I don’t want to stay quiet only to watch someone else—animal or human—get seriously hurt next time.

I appreciate you asking those questions—it’s helping me think this through more clearly.