On May 28, 2016, the gorilla Harambe was killed by his own keepers, after a 3-year-old child slipped into his enclosure. According to many, he did not even want to hurt him; he was only protecting him. “The gorilla kept the child close to him, something his own parents did not do”.
Harambe, weighing 200 kilos, began dragging the child through the water, and some believe he only wanted to get him out of danger of drowning, although others insist that the scene could be potentially deadly for the little boy.
The staff of the Cincinnati Zoo, Ohio, United States, decided to kill Harambe by gunfire. The child came out unharmed, with only minor injuries.
Today, 10 years later, the scene reopens the debate: was it the parents’ fault for not watching their child? Should that gorilla have been exposed to so many people in an environment that was not even his natural habitat?