Did you hear about the gorilla that was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo last Saturday, May 28? According to the direction of the park, the animal - named Harambe - had to be slaughtered after a 4-year-old climbed the guardrail and fell into a ditch just over three meters deep inside the area in the area. which primate was kept.

Harambe was 17 years old, weighed 180 pounds and was born in captivity in Texas. In 2014, the animal was transferred to the zoo to participate in a gorilla breeding program and, according to Harambe's breeders, the primate was very intelligent and had no aggressive behavior. Watch the shocking video of the following incident:

Tragedy

According to some witnesses who were present at the zoo, Harambe did not appear to be attacking the boy at all. In fact, the impression of most was that after the little boy fell into the moat, the gorilla was trying to protect the little one, but panicked when the people watching the scene began to scream.

Harambe with little boy shortly before being slaughtered

It was then that Harambe ended up dragging the little boy quickly through the water. However, the child was not injured - and stood quietly looking at the animal. The gorilla can even be seen holding the boy's hand, and taking his arm, before being agitated again and dragging the child once more.

Whose fault is it?

The zoo staff had to act fast and decided to shoot down Harembe to retrieve the boy. As the park director explained, it was a life-and-death situation, and there was no alternative but to unfortunately kill the gorilla. As I said, the team chose not to use tranquilizers because the drugs could take too long to work and, under the circumstances, zoo staff did the right thing.

The tragedy could have been prevented.

The decision to kill Harembe not only shocked the world but sparked a wave of revolt among netizens most committed to protecting animals. In addition, after the gorilla's death, a campaign calling for the boy's parents to be investigated for malpractice began to circulate on the Internet - and the petition now has more than 160, 000 signatures.

Harambe was an animal of the Gorilla gorilla gorilla species, a subspecies of the western gorilla. These primates are native to the forests of eastern Africa, especially Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo.

There is no precise information as to how many Harambe gorillas are still in the wild, but it is estimated that 500 individuals are living in zoos around the world.