Harambe

Harambe (/həˈrɑːmbeɪ/ hə-RAHM-bay) was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, on May 27, 1999. He was named by Dan Van Coppenolle, a local area counselor who won a naming contest sponsored by the zoo.[4] He came up with the name after listening to the 1988 song "Harambe (Working Together for Freedom)" by Rita Marley, widow of Bob Marley.[5] Harambee is a Swahili term for communal labor.[5]

On September 18, 2014, Harambe was transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden to learn adult gorilla behavior and join a new social group.[6][7]

On May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy visiting the Cincinnati Zoo fell into the moat at the Gorilla World habitat.[8][9]

Witnesses said they heard the child say he wanted to go into the gorilla enclosure.[10] The boy then climbed a 3-foot-tall (0.91 m) fence, crawled through 4 feet (1.2 m) of bushes, and then fell 15 feet (4.6 m) into a moat of shallow water. Zoo officials immediately signaled for the three gorillas in the habitat to return inside, and two females did so. However, the third gorilla, the inquisitive 440-pound (200 kg) male silverback, Harambe, climbed down into the moat to investigate the child splashing in the water.[9]

Over the next 10 minutes, Harambe became increasingly "agitated and disoriented" by the screams of onlookers.[11][12] He carried the child through the water, occasionally propping him up when he sat, or pushing him down when he stood.[11] Harambe exhibited "strutting" behavior—walking around with legs and arms stiffly extended to appear bigger—a bluffing move, though one with inherent danger should he throw or drag the boy around too roughly.[12] Harambe then carried the boy up a ladder out of the moat onto dry land. Afraid for the boy's welfare, zoo officials made the decision to kill the gorilla, doing so with a single rifle shot. Cincinnati firefighters said the boy was between Harambe's legs when the shot was fired.[9]

Harambe was killed one day after his 17th birthday.[11] The boy was given a trauma assessment and transported to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; his injuries were non-life-threatening.[1]

Memorial for Harambe at the Cincinnati Zoo, June 12, 2016

The incident was recorded in a dramatic video by an anonymous bystander and uploaded to YouTube, where it went viral, sparking global publicity and controversy.[13][14] Some observers said that it was unclear whether Harambe was likely to harm the child.[15][16] Others called for the boy's parents or the zoo to be held accountable for the gorilla's death.[17] Director Thane Maynard stated, "The child was being dragged around ... His head was banging on concrete. This was not a gentle thing. The child was at risk."[18][19][20]

Police investigated possible criminal charges against the parents, while the parents defended the zoo's actions.[21][22] The boy's mother also became the target of harassment on the Internet and social media.[23] On June 6, 2016, Ohio prosecutor Joe Deters said that the mother would not face any charges of wrongdoing.[24] The zoo was investigated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which sets the standards for zoos, and the USDA.[25]

Several vigils took place to honor Harambe's death. A candlelight vigil was held at Hyde Park, London.[26] Anthony Seta, an animal rights activist, spoke at a vigil at Cincinnati Zoo, saying: "I'm not here to decide what was right and what was wrong; the fact is that a gorilla who just celebrated his birthday has been killed."[27]

The shooting received criticism from several high-profile celebrities, including Ricky Gervais, Brian May, and Piers Morgan.[28]

Donald Trump defended the actions of the Cincinnati Zoo during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. Trump said, "You have a child—a young child who is at stake—and, you know ... it's too bad there wasn't another way. I thought it was so beautiful to watch that, you know, powerful, almost 500-pound gorilla, the way he dealt with that little boy. But it just takes one second [...] It just takes one little flick of his finger. And I will tell you they probably had no choice."[29]

The incident sparked debate among biologists and primatologists on whether gorillas and other primates should be held in captivity at all.[12] Primatologist Jane Goodall said that according to the video it seemed Harambe was trying to protect the child.[30] Goodall later issued a longer explanation in an interview with the president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, concluding that the zoo had no choice but to kill Harambe.[31] She wrote, "It was awful for the child, the parents, Harambe, the zoo, the keepers and the public. But when people come into contact with wild animals, life and death decisions sometimes have to be made."[25] Goodall said "we will never be able to be 100% sure that people and wildlife won’t be injured when they are in such close proximity", but she believed that zoos "with the highest standards of care" could play an important role.[25]

Zookeeper Jack Hanna strongly defended the zoo's actions as the "correct decision", noting that a tranquilizer dart might have taken five or ten minutes to take effect and could have aggravated Harambe further.[32] Primatologist Frans de Waal said he saw few options for the zoo: "A gorilla is so immensely strong that even with the best of intentions—and we are not sure that Harambe had those—the child's death was a probable outcome."[33]

In September 2017, the zoo added Mshindi, a 29-year-old male western lowland gorilla transferred from the Louisville Zoo. He joined females Chewie, 21, and Mara, 22, who were present on the day of the killing. At the same time, the zoo created a new indoor habitat where the public could safely view the gorillas year-round from behind safety glass.[63][64]

• Binky (polar bear)
• Binti Jua
• Jambo
• Killing of Cecil the lion
• San Francisco Zoo tiger attacks
• List of individual apes

• Photos of Harambe at Gladys Porter Zoo