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Harambe The Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla Was ‘Putting Arm Around The Child’ Says Jane Goodall

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 07:54 PST, Jun 1, 2016

Jane Goodall, one of the world’s leading and perhaps most famous primatologists, emailed the director of the Cincinnati Zoo, Thomas Maynard, on Tuesday, telling him that Harambe, the late, beloved gorilla, was protecting and not harming the child that fell into the enclosure.

Maynard said that the zoo made the right decision to kill the gentle giant known as Harambe.

“This child was being dragged around and his head was banging on the concrete. This was not a gentle thing.”

Goodall had a totally different take on what occurred between the beloved gorilla and the 4-year-old boy.

“I tried to see exactly what was happening—it looked as though the gorilla was putting an arm round the child —like the female who rescued and returned the child from the Chicago exhibit.”

What the animal rights advocate was referring to was an incident from several years ago. Binti Jua, the amazing gorilla who lifted up a boy who fell into her enclosure and miraculously brought the child to the zookeepers.

Many agree with Goodall’s assessment of the Cincinnati Zoo situation. Those who have seen the video heard the screams as the rare Western lowland silverback pull the child by his ankle through the water. Then it appeared that Harambe held the child’s hand as he stood and protected the small child.

Now, after Goodall’s claim, do those people who have been posting this Harambe meme perhaps now feel a bit justified?

This tragedy has caused many disagreements on social media, from stressed out parents who say that losing a child in a zoo is easy to animal right’s advocates who are angry that this mother did not have control of her children, thus causing an innocent animal’s death. Then others who say that we should not be putting animals in zoos in the first place. This has become quite a hot button topic.

Currently, people are calling out on social media to investigate the child’s family. Before the child went into the water, witness Kim O’Connor claimed that the child insisted on going into the water. The mother, who was preoccupied with caring for her other children, told him “No, you’re not, no, you’re not.” Yet, after he maneuvered around, he suddenly splashed down onto the gorilla display.

Since the tragedy, some have tried to send the family money. The family of the boy has refused any funds and have asked people to donate to the zoo in the name of Harambe.

Meanwhile, nearly 500,000 people have signed a petition for Justice for Harambe.

Celebrities have gone on social media to express their grief and anger for the death of Harambe. Yesterday on Instagram, Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco expressed her outrage that this beautiful animal was killed. Like Goodall, she pointed out that Harambe was holding the child’s hand, not hurting the child.

As so much focus has been on the family of the child and questioning the Cincinnati Zoo for not building a more secure barrier, there has been no mention of the grief of the two female gorillas living with Harambe. Jane Goodall inquired about the two female gorillas.

“Are they allowed to see, and express grief, which seems to be so important?”

While there are no reports of expression of grief, the two female gorillas have been searching the enclosure area, confused that Harambe is gone. They may not understand what has happened to Harambe to even begin the grieving process. This is incredibly heartbreaking for the gorillas.

Do you think that zoo officials should have killed Harambe? Do you think he was protecting the child, or do you think he was a threat?

[Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images]

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