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New Video Reveals Gorilla Was Holding Hands With Boy Before Being Shot
Anybody who’s been following the news will no doubt have heard about Harambe, the 17-year-old silverback gorilla who was shot dead by zookeepers after a four-year-old boy fell 15ft into his enclosure. Cincinnati Zoo stood by its decision to kill the animal and argued that the boy’s life was in danger, but a new video has emerged appearing to show the 400lb gorilla holding hands with the boy prior to being shot. What do you think?
The incident has caused widespread outrage among animal rights activists who insist that Harambe was showing no aggression towards the child. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have criticized the zoo’s lack of a second protective barrier around Harambe’s habitat and almost 300,000 people have signed a petition to punish the parents for allowing their child to enter the enclosure in the first place. Whoever is responsible, there’s no denying that what happened was a tragedy. RIP Harambe.
UPDATE: zookeeper finally explains what Harambe was actually doing with the kid.
RELATED:
Harambe was shot after a four-year-old boy fell into his enclosure
Zookeepers said the boy was in danger but the video seems to show them holding hands
Was he just trying to protect the kid from the crowd? Watch the video and decide for yourself:
The incident has caused widespread outrage among animal rights activists
Cincinnati Zoo has been heavily criticized and so have the boy’s parents
RIP Harambe
The heartbreaking incident of Harambe, the 17-year-old silverback gorilla who was shot at Cincinnati Zoo, has led to countless debates on whether he posed a threat to the child who fell into his enclosure. An interesting perspective from a former zookeeper sheds light on the gorilla’s behavior.
To gain a deeper understanding of Harambe’s actions, it’s worth exploring what the experts have to say about this tragic situation.
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Mark Scott 9 years ago
Gorilla was doing a better job of looking after the kid than the mom was
Linn Tara Lenby 9 years ago
The sad part here is that if the crowd hadn't been shouting and screaming and making so much noise, the gorilla most likely wouldn't have freaked out.
Vanessa 9 years ago
Yeah that's sad, why people have to scream like this when something happens, it never helps
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praveen dhamija 9 years ago
Why Zoo administration didn't use tranquillizer gun to make him unconscious instead of killing?
Barbora Szulcová 9 years ago
They 'say' it could cause more danger to that kid, but really? When they shot him dead he could fall at him as well.
Load More Replies...
Mircea T 9 years ago
One of many reasons why animals should not live their life in cages. Few weeks ago a lion has been shot because an idiot wanted to die..
Cassandra Misale 9 years ago
Why kill the lion when the lion was probably scared and protecting his home. I really doubt someone would go and do the same thing. And if someone really wants to get killed by a lion, others would surely do the same thing. We are not safer because the lion is dead.
Load More Replies...
DarkLumiya 9 years ago
they should have shot the irresponsible parent instead. all zoos should shut down and it should just be safaris or something. somewhere where idiotic humans can't easily fall in or come in close contact with these poor animals
Attack On Titan Is Awesome 9 years ago
Your so right actually. Just because a human fell in there the poor gorilla was shot and they "saved" the child. Unbelievable.
Load More Replies...
Shruti Naik 9 years ago
Faced with that situation maybe I would've made the same decision.. but think about this.. you get a creature out of his natural habitat, put him in captivity for human entertainment and then kill him because he seemed dangerous...who is dangerous? us; the human beings...
Valerie Sellen 9 years ago
The animal of course he is wild it's the irresponsible parents that are dangerous just ignorant!!
Load More Replies...
Katinka Min 9 years ago
One Gorilla gets shot in a zoo => huge outrage. Gorillas get extinct because we destroy their habitat for oil and gold => hardly anyone cares. Orang Utangs become extinct because their habitat is destroyed for palm oil => not even a twitch, most people don't even know. I'm not sure what annoys me more: the hypocrisy or the idiocy of these 'outraged' people.
Cassandra Misale 9 years ago
Unfortunately people don't realize this stuff is going on. It's the one thing I admire most zoos for, educating the masses about the atrocities in the world and to see the beauty of the animal in person. Makes it real when you look into the eyes of all animals and truly see the beauty there and hopefully get people to help however they can.
Load More Replies...
Pamela Sorin 9 years ago
It is so easy to judge from 'out in the ether.' Whether he was trying to protect the boy, or not, he was dragging the child through the water like a rag doll. To me, there is little question that the child was in danger. It is a horrible tragedy that the gorilla was put down, but the zoo staff had to make an immediate decision. For those of you who are shaming the mother, shame on you. Children are curious and act on their curiosity in the blink of an eye. No one can blame a parent more than they blame themselves when a horrible accident happens.
Wojciech Białek 9 years ago
ofcourse we can blame the mother and we will! it's called responsibility, each parent is responsible for their children and if someone is not up to the task he shouldn't have kids.. easy as that!
Load More Replies...
Claudean Wheeler 9 years ago
I've seen this video 100 times and whether or not at one point the gorilla was holding hands with the boy is completely irrelevant. He was a male gorilla dragging the boy back and forth in the enclosure. The boy sustained injuries from this alone. The Cincinnati Zoo is a first -class facility and nothing like this has ever happened before. This was just a tragic accident. Plain and simple. No one was at fault. No one should be to blame. No one made the wrong decision.
Angua Überwald 9 years ago
This proved it is not "first -class facility". Parents failed and are to blame. It was tragic; luckily boy survived, but I don't see that lecture is learned.
Load More Replies...
Mark Scott 9 years ago
Gorilla was doing a better job of looking after the kid than the mom was
Linn Tara Lenby 9 years ago
The sad part here is that if the crowd hadn't been shouting and screaming and making so much noise, the gorilla most likely wouldn't have freaked out.
Vanessa 9 years ago
Yeah that's sad, why people have to scream like this when something happens, it never helps
Load More Replies... praveen dhamija 9 years ago
Why Zoo administration didn't use tranquillizer gun to make him unconscious instead of killing?
Barbora Szulcová 9 years ago
They 'say' it could cause more danger to that kid, but really? When they shot him dead he could fall at him as well.
Load More Replies... Mircea T 9 years ago
One of many reasons why animals should not live their life in cages. Few weeks ago a lion has been shot because an idiot wanted to die..
Cassandra Misale 9 years ago
Why kill the lion when the lion was probably scared and protecting his home. I really doubt someone would go and do the same thing. And if someone really wants to get killed by a lion, others would surely do the same thing. We are not safer because the lion is dead.
Load More Replies... DarkLumiya 9 years ago
they should have shot the irresponsible parent instead. all zoos should shut down and it should just be safaris or something. somewhere where idiotic humans can't easily fall in or come in close contact with these poor animals
Attack On Titan Is Awesome 9 years ago
Your so right actually. Just because a human fell in there the poor gorilla was shot and they "saved" the child. Unbelievable.
Load More Replies... Shruti Naik 9 years ago
Faced with that situation maybe I would've made the same decision.. but think about this.. you get a creature out of his natural habitat, put him in captivity for human entertainment and then kill him because he seemed dangerous...who is dangerous? us; the human beings...
Valerie Sellen 9 years ago
The animal of course he is wild it's the irresponsible parents that are dangerous just ignorant!!
Load More Replies... Katinka Min 9 years ago
One Gorilla gets shot in a zoo => huge outrage. Gorillas get extinct because we destroy their habitat for oil and gold => hardly anyone cares. Orang Utangs become extinct because their habitat is destroyed for palm oil => not even a twitch, most people don't even know. I'm not sure what annoys me more: the hypocrisy or the idiocy of these 'outraged' people.
Cassandra Misale 9 years ago
Unfortunately people don't realize this stuff is going on. It's the one thing I admire most zoos for, educating the masses about the atrocities in the world and to see the beauty of the animal in person. Makes it real when you look into the eyes of all animals and truly see the beauty there and hopefully get people to help however they can.
Load More Replies... Pamela Sorin 9 years ago
It is so easy to judge from 'out in the ether.' Whether he was trying to protect the boy, or not, he was dragging the child through the water like a rag doll. To me, there is little question that the child was in danger. It is a horrible tragedy that the gorilla was put down, but the zoo staff had to make an immediate decision. For those of you who are shaming the mother, shame on you. Children are curious and act on their curiosity in the blink of an eye. No one can blame a parent more than they blame themselves when a horrible accident happens.
Wojciech Białek 9 years ago
ofcourse we can blame the mother and we will! it's called responsibility, each parent is responsible for their children and if someone is not up to the task he shouldn't have kids.. easy as that!
Load More Replies... Claudean Wheeler 9 years ago
I've seen this video 100 times and whether or not at one point the gorilla was holding hands with the boy is completely irrelevant. He was a male gorilla dragging the boy back and forth in the enclosure. The boy sustained injuries from this alone. The Cincinnati Zoo is a first -class facility and nothing like this has ever happened before. This was just a tragic accident. Plain and simple. No one was at fault. No one should be to blame. No one made the wrong decision.
Angua Überwald 9 years ago
This proved it is not "first -class facility". Parents failed and are to blame. It was tragic; luckily boy survived, but I don't see that lecture is learned.
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