[Image: A free-living howler monkey in Costa Rica swings from a tree branch.]

I wasn’t planning to write about Harambe, the gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo after a child got into his enclosure, as others in the animal rights community can speak and have already spoken more eloquently on the subject. But when I turned on the news just now and saw the zoo director defending the shooting, I felt I had to make a short statement.

Zoos are prisons where non-human animals who humans find attractive or interesting are put on display for visitors to gawk at while eating the bodies and secretions of other animals. Breeding programs to save endangered animals wouldn’t be needed if humans would stop encroaching upon their territory in the first place. Wild (and domestic) animals who need homes belong in sanctuaries, not prisons, where they can be cared for without catering to the whims of the public.

If you’re vegan, please don’t go to zoos. If you’re not vegan, please learn about veganism. Our fellow animals deserve better than this.