Rich Lowry: In Defense of the Cincinnati Zoo

The typical response when someone saves a small child from harm isn't "How dare you?"

But the Cincinnati Zoo has been subjected to a torrent of abuse for making the agonizing decision to shoot and kill one of its gorillas, a 17-year-old silverback named Harambe, when a 4-year-old boy fell into his enclosure.

Invariably, the adjective used to describe Harambe is "magnificent," and rightly so. Gorillas are physically imposing and highly intelligent, with sophisticated social structures. In a better world, they probably wouldn't be confined for our viewing pleasure, but that's another issue.

The...