Harambe was a male western lowland gorilla who was born in May 1999 and lived in several U.S. zoos. 2016. on May 28, a three-year-old boy fell into Harambe’s catwalk in the “Gorilla World” section of the Cincinnati Zoo. The gorilla descended into the ditch, grabbed and held the child for a few minutes; fearing for his life, a zoo worker shot Harambe and the animal died. The child suffered no life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital.
The incident caused widespread controversy and became known thanks to viral video footage. Some public opinion and some experts argued that Harambe might have protected the child, while others argued that the threat to the child was real and that employees did not have time to wait for the effects of a sleeping bullet, for example. The zoo’s management and several primate researchers defended the decision to kill the gorilla; the state’s attorney’s office declined to prosecute the child’s mother.
Harambe’s death spawned a powerful cultural phenomenon: memes, parodies, commemorative actions and artistic reactions worldwide. The subject has grown into an internet phenomenon – from trolling and satire to sincere protest actions and candlelight prayers. The zoo itself did not take kindly to the ongoing recollection of the tragedy and temporarily suspended its social media account due to the attacks.
After the events, the zoo took security measures: in 2017, a new male arrived in the harem, and closed glass exits were created for visitors. Harambe’s case continues to be debated on the safety of Zoos, the ethics of keeping wildlife, and the boundaries of internet culture; in the following years, documentary and analytical materials were published that redefined the course of events and motivations of participants.
