“Unveiling the Shocking Truth: What Really Led to Harambe’s Tragic Fate?”

Ah, 2016—a year some folks like to blame for everything that went south, right? If we’re on the lookout for the moment the world truly lost its marbles, many would point to one particular incident that summer. Yes, I’m talking about the tragic and bizarre saga of Harambe, the beloved gorilla from Cincinnati Zoo. On that fateful day in May, a small child climbed into his enclosure, leading to heart-wrenching chaos and a swift, shocking decision by zoo officials. As public outrage surged, Harambe transcended his status as just another animal in a cage, morphing into a global phenomenon filled with memes, debates, and even a statue on Wall Street! Dive into the complexities surrounding his untimely demise and reflect on how one gorilla’s death became a symbol for so much more. Curious what really went down? Click here to LEARN MORE.

If you were called upon to pinpoint the moment where things really started going wrong with the world you might pinpoint 2016 as the culprit for various reasons, but if you were to go digging around into that discussion you’d likely find an even more specific moment in that year.

I am, of course, talking about the killing of Harambe, the gorilla who was shot dead at Cincinnati Zoo on 28 May, 2016, after a child climbed into his enclosure.

Zoo officials signalled the gorillas to go back inside and two of them did so, but Harambe stayed out to investigate as the boy was splashing around in the water and onlookers saw Harambe grab, drag and throw the three-year-old boy.

Harambe carried the boy through the water in the enclosure, sometimes propped him up when he tried to sit and pushed him over when he stood up.

As the crowd of people watching grew more frantic Harambe became more agitated, carrying the boy onto dry land before being killed with one shot to the head, while the boy was between his legs.

Harambe’s death prompted quite the outrage (John Sommers II/Getty Images)

The three-year-old was taken to hospital where his injuries were deemed not to be life-threatening, while Harambe’s reputation went viral and in death he was propelled to global fame on the back of a multitude of memes.

The gorilla’s viral fame prompted a wave of interest in the circumstances surrounding his death and many people wondered why it was necessary to shoot him dead.

Some of those questions are addressed in the documentary Harambe, which released on World Gorilla Day (24 September, for this interested) 2023.

Explaining to UnchainedTV why they didn’t just tranquilise Harambe rather than shooting to kill as they did, documentary director Erik Crown explained that ‘tranquilisers don’t work they way people think of in movies’.

“You don’t fire a tranquiliser dart and somebody goes down, it actually puts the system into overdrive which then shuts the system down.

Harambe gained viral fame after his death, and many wondered why he couldn’t be tranquilised instead of shot dead. (Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“It can take up to 20, 25 minutes to become active, especially inside of a large gorilla. That may have agitated Harambe, may have led to a different outcome or a very dangerous outcome for the boy.

“As much as we would have liked to have seen a non-lethal ending to it, I don’t believe the zookeepers necessarily had a choice with the way their program runs, and that is exactly why we feel we should not have endangered animals in captivity any more.”

He also said that, while ‘people argue different things’ about Harambe’s behaviour towards the child, he suggested that the gorilla was actually attempting to return the child to his family as he carried the three-year-old out of the water and to a higher point.

In 2021, a seven foot tall statue of Harambe was erected on Wall Street to face the bull sculpture there, and the statue was later moved to the Facebook HQ in California.

A bridge in Mauldin, South Carolina, was named the ‘Harambe Memorial Bridge’ on Google Maps in 2023, before it had officially been given a proper name, despite attempts to convince the city to keep the name it ended up being called something else.