Harambe Death: Is Harambe a Hero Because of…?

By Jivika On Nov 2, 2022

For that amount of time, the gorilla known as Harambe has been missing. A 3-year-old boy accidentally fell into his exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, and an emergency response team shot and killed him.

Harambe’s death caused a stir, and he quickly became a meme staple. Moreover, Twitter has not forgotten him. In retrospect: Harambe’s baffling, unexpected afterlife

Five years ago, the gorilla experienced the following:-

Table of Contents

Harambe

While at the Cincinnati Zoo from 2014 to 2016, western lowland gorilla Harambe (born on May 27, 1999 and passing away on May 28, 2016) spent 15 years at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Baltimore.

When Did Harambe Pass Away?

On May 28, 2016, Harambe passed away. Just the day before, he had celebrated turning 17 years old on his birthday.

What Happened to Harambe?

A 3-year-old boy accidentally entered Gorilla World at the Cincinnati Zoo, leading to the shooting and death of the gorilla.

When asked what happened, Thane Maynard, president of the zoo, said the child crawled under a barrier and fell between 10 and 12 feet into the moat that surrounded the habitat.

The boy was dragged around by Harambe. A member of the Dangerous Animal Response Team at the zoo determined the child’s interaction with the animal was “life-threatening” after about 10 minutes, Maynard said.

It was decided to put Harambe down by shooting him, and that’s what happened to him, as Maynard explained. We’ve never had to dispatch a dangerous animal in an emergency at the Cincinnati Zoo before, but this is the first time it’s happened.

What Happened to the Kid Who Accidentally Walked Into Harambe’s Enclosure?

The 3-year-old who fell into Harambe’s enclosure was taken to the hospital and released after a short stay.
The internet has ensured that the 450-pound silverback western lowland gorilla is nearly impossible to forget. Baseball jerseys, cleats, and even an Elon Musk song honour him.

What Did the Cincinnati Zoo Say ?

Thane issued a statement following the event, in which he explained what had happened. She explained that the decision had been made to “put down” (i.e. shoot) Harambe, and that he is no longer around. This is the first time the Cincinnati Zoo has ever had to dispatch a dangerous animal in an emergency.

She went on to say that the choice was made to protect the child’s welfare. Even though Thane knew Harambe wouldn’t intentionally hurt the kid, he was still concerned about the boy because of the chimpanzee’s massive size and strength.

Is Harambe Providing Any Sort of Assistance?

Harambe wasn’t looking out for the kid; he was just using him as a weapon. My sources keep telling me that the gorilla was shielding the kid. Not convinced that this is the case. The gorilla, named Harambe, reaches out for the boy’s hands and arms, but only to move the boy around for his own exhibiting purposes.

What Became of Harambe’s Remains?

Harambe’s body is still at the zoo, and when he passed away, the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife took a sperm sample that they hope to use to artificially inseminate another animal in the future.

Media

BBC Radio 4′

The BBC World Service has more on this and other stories. According to Romano, who writes for Vox, “the sheer absurdity of Harambe as a social issue was a really easy thing to mock” if one was “really tired of seeing media hysteria dominate news cycles and dominate conversations.”

A certain amount of outrage fatigue was conveyed, I believe. What do you do with your frustration if you see people getting worked up over a dead gorilla when thousands of people are dying in the Syrian refugee crisis?

When Harambe died, “the only way to sort of express your anger was to just turn this sort of worship of Harambe and this deep cultural grief over Harambe’s death into a meme,” the author writes.

In fact, it’s not just a meme; it’s THE meme of 2016.

Controversy Surrounding an Afl Player’s Racist Joke

After a 13-year-old girl controversially called Adam Goodes, an Australian rules football player of Indigenous ancestry, a “ape” in 2013, a Facebook page called AFL Meme posted two image macros on June 1st, 2016 comparing the gorilla to Goodes (shown below). Many page viewers quickly accused the page of perpetuating racist stereotypes of Australia’s Indigenous people after seeing the images.

Many international English-language news outlets covered the online backlash against AFL Memes’ Facebook posts on June 2nd, including BuzzFeed, which incorrectly blamed a different Facebook page with the same name. A Facebook page that was wrongly cited in the BuzzFeed article issued a statement later that day apologising for the confusion and calling the racist memes directed at Adam Goodes “horrifying.”

Additionally, the group asserted it would sue BuzzFeed for defamation (shown below, left). On the same day, the AFL Memes page that had originally published the memes issued an apology to its readers and confirmed that the offensive images had been taken down (shown below, right).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Harambe’s Death Toll Up Yet?

The young boy was being dragged around the house by one of the Western lowland gorillas. “I just walked in and found Mommy! Mama adores you “mom yelled as people around her started freaking out and she tried to calm her son down. A zookeeper shot and killed Harambe because he was afraid for the boy’s safety.

Is Harambe a Hero Because of…?

Only one, and the life of an innocent animal was taken by the kind Harambe. The boy spent about ten minutes inside the cage but suffered no significant injuries. Harambe’s ape-like instincts led him to safeguard the kid rather than harm him.