Anger After Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla, Harambe, Was Shot

A 180kg gorilla named Harambe who was shot dead by Cincinnati Zoo officials just one day after his 17th birthday has sparked an outcry of emotion as mourners called it a "senseless death".

Many are placing the blame squarely on the parents of a four-year-old boy, who investigators believe crawled through a railing barrier and fell into the gorilla exhibit's moat before he was dragged by Harambe in the water for about 10 minutes.

The small child said he wanted to get in the water before the incident, to which the mother, who was also watching several other children, replied: "No, you're not, no, you're not," according to one witness Kim O'Connor.

O'connor told WLWT she heard the boy talking about getting into the water before she heard a splash, followed by frantic yelling once onlookers realised he was inside the enclosure.

However an animal behavioural expert has questioned whether the gorilla needed to be killed, saying the he was not being aggressive and may have been protecting the child.

While Hamilton Zoo said it "would not hesitate" to shoot an animal if a human life was in danger.

Footage filmed on a mobile phone shows Harambe on all fours standing over the boy.

The 200kg primate turns the boy around before pulling on his clothing and "dragging" him away from horrified onlookers.

The boy's mum can be heard shouting: "Mummy's right here. Isaiah, be calm. Mummy loves you."

The boy was taken to hospital but is now home with his family.

Zoo director Thane Maynard said the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team tried to call the gorillas out of the exhibit. Two females complied but Harambe did not, Mr Maynard said in a statement.

"Tranquillising the 450-pound gorilla was not an option," he said, so staff "put the gorilla down".

Gisela Kaplan, author of Orang-utans in Borneo and Professor of Animal Behaviour at the University of New England, told news.com.au she does not believe the boy was in any real danger.

"I can tell you silverbacks are protectors of their group," she said.

"If there's an unusual thing happening, (Harambe) needs to investigate. The fact that he went over to the child is absolutely natural behaviour but it doesn't mean he was aggressive.

"If he was going to attack he would've warned him first. The first thing they do is charge and beat their chests and as far as I know that didn't happen.

"Usually a child is not a threat. The silverback would've understood that it was a defenceless small child.

"They would not normally attack, they are not an aggressive species (and) in the wild I'm certain the boy wouldn't have been killed."

Professor Kaplan said the leader of the troop was doing what it was supposed to do. It was "investigating", not attacking. She said Harambe likely moved the boy away from the chaos because of the noise.

"Screaming is only used in extreme situations with primates and it would've only raised stress levels. I think it's wrong that they shot it dead but I wasn't there so it's hard to be too critical."

She said Harambe's family will be grieving.

"The death will have a vast impact on the entire troop. They're like human families, you can't replace Harambe with another male. There's a sense of love and bonding and the entire troop will be destroyed."

Cincinatti Zoo said it did everything possible to avoid having to put Harambe down, but Prof Kaplan said the gorilla should have responded to commands.

"If the keepers have a good relationship with the group, it should've been one keeper giving a command. Calm him down, that should've been sufficient."

Lance Vervoort of Hamilton City Council said the local zoo had an emergency procedure in place for "person in with dangerous animal", should a member of the public end up in a zoo enclosure.

The procedure required a "scene co-ordinator" be nominated, the police be called and the for zoo's trained firearms handler to come to the scene.

Hamilton Zoo has a registered and trained firearms handler available at all times every day the facility is open.

"The co-ordinator would decide whether to destroy the animal or secure them in another part of the exhibit," Mr Vervoort said.

Whether or not the animal was shot depended on the level of danger the situation presented.

"We have always maintained that we will not hesitate to shoot an animal if a human life is in danger."

Animals were graded in categories, from Category One animals like wild dogs or chimps, to Category Three animals such as lemurs.

"We have animal escape procedures which vary according to the species of animal involved," Mr Vervoort said.

"For example, a Category One dangerous animal would be shot by a member of the zoo's firearms team or relevant emergency services on the scene.

"We also have a process around Category Two dangerous animals, which would be to attempt a recapture through directing or shepherding the animal with a vehicle or several staff, and a tranquiliser dart if necessary.

"If a Category Two animal is considered to be threatening a human life, it will be shot."

Category Three animals, considered to have a much lower level of risk to humans, would be returned to its enclosure through whatever means staff had available.

Wellington and Auckland Zoo were also approached by the Herald for comment about their emergency procedures, but staff at both zoos said they were unable to comment today as they were tied up moving a giraffe from Auckland to the capital.

Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park declined to comment.

The incident is a first for Gorilla World, which opened in 1978.

"This is the first time there has been a breach," zoo officials said in a statement.

"The barrier that we have in place has been effective for 38 years. Nevertheless, we will study this incident as we work toward continuous improvement for the safety of our visitors and animals."

Harambe, a western lowland gorilla, was born in captivity and moved to the Ohio zoo in 2014.

He turned 17 the day before he was shot. Silverback gorillas usually live to around 50 years of age.

"They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life," Maynard said.

But outraged animal lovers took to social media declaring the western lowland gorilla's life was unnecessarily taken, and more than 1,000 have already joined the Facebook group Justice for Harambe.

While some defended the parents, many others were less sympathetic.

One Twitter user wrote: "So a beautiful, innocent gorilla has to die because neglectful parents can't control their kids? Mankind sucks :( #Harambe #CincinnatiZoo"

Another user Chris Dasauchoit tweeted: "Beautiful animals sadly paying for utter human stupidity and negligence with their lives. #Harame #CincinnatiZoo."

According to Maynard, the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the child, but he called it "an extremely strong" animal in an agitated situation.

"You're talking about an animal that's over 400 pounds and extremely strong. So no, the child wasn't under attack but all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that. He certainly was at risk," he told WLWT.

According to a fire department incident report, the gorilla was "violently dragging and throwing the child", who was between Harambe's legs when the gorilla was shot, WLWT reported.

Officials said they could not release any information on the child, including his name.

Zoo director Maynard noted it was the first time that the team had killed a zoo animal in such an emergency situation, and he called it "a very sad day" at the zoo.

He said said in a statement: "The Zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life.

"We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla. This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide."

Western lowland gorillas are deemed critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund.

Harambe came to Cincinnati in 2015 from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. According to the zoo's website, it houses 11 gorillas.

The area around the gorilla exhibit was closed off on Saturday afternoon as zoo visitors reported hearing screaming.

The zoo is to be open as usual today but Gorilla World will be closed until further notice.

In March, two curious polar bears at the zoo wandered into a behind-the-scenes service hallway through an open den door, but never left a secondary containment area.

The zoo said the 17-year-old female Berit and the 26-year-old male Little One, entered an "inappropriate" area but remained contained and were never loose or a threat to the public.

During that incident, zoo officials said staff followed protocols and safely returned the bears to their main holding area within two hours.

- Daily Mail