Harambe was Heroic - RIP

Primate-behavior experts agree that Harambe’s intention was protective and not aggressive: Professor Emily Bethell (primate behaviorist): “He was clearly being protective towards the boy. There were no signs of the gorilla being aggressive in the sense that he wanted to hurt the boy or anything like that. The biggest threat to the boy I would say is obviously when the gorilla moved and dragged him, that could have caused some harm, but the gorilla’s body language is definitely protective.“ [1] Professor Gisela Kaplan (primate behaviorist): “I can tell you silverbacks are protectors of their group. If there’s an unusual thing happening, (Harambe) needs to investigate. The fact that he went over to the child is absolutely natural behaviour but it doesn’t mean he was aggressive. If he was going to attack he would’ve warned him first. The first thing they do is charge and beat their chests and as far as I know that didn’t happen.“ [2] Professor Frans De Waal (primatologist): “Seeing more of the videos, I got the impression that Harambe was mostly protective. He showed a combination of protection and confusion. He stood over the child, held him up, moved/dragged him through the water (at least once very roughly), stood over him again. Much of his reaction may have been triggered by public noise and yelling. There was no moment of acute aggression, as also admitted by the zoo director. If the gorilla had wanted to kill the child, one bang of his fist would have done it. People have no idea of their superhuman strength. Yet, he didn’t perform any killing move. I should also clarify, since people on Facebook have said that gorillas are dangerous predators, that this is entirely wrong. A gorilla doesn’t look at a human child as something edible. [...] The one thing that reliably makes a gorilla male mad is another male who enters his territory or gets too close to his females and young. Harambe surely knew that he was not dealing with competition, hence had no reason to attack.“ [3] Richard Johnstone-Scott (gorilla keeper for 46 years): “It looked quite scary. But I understand that he was actually pulling the child away from where the people who were shouting and screaming out of concern for the little chap, he pulled him away from that area. And then when he stopped, it seems to me that he helped the boy to his feet, which was quite amazing. From what I can see on that film, I don’t think that Harambe meant to hurt that child. If he had intended to hurt that child it would’ve been over in seconds. It would’ve been wham, bang, and that would be the end of it.“ [4] __________________________________ [1] [2] [3] [4] HARAMBE’S BACKGROUND Harambe was raised from birth by Jerry Stones, who after his killing said: “He was not mean. He was a gentle little guy. He grew up to be a beautiful animal. But he was never aggressive, he was never mean.“ [1] Stones said the onlookers terrified by Harambe, “didn’t know who he was.“ [2] Harambe was hand-raised by humans, and the man who knew him best, from his birth in 1999 until he left Gladys Porter Zoo in 2014, [3] said he was never aggressive. __________________________________ [1] [2] [3] IS INFANT DRAGGING NORMAL AMONG GORILLAS? Yes. The manual “Management of Gorillas in Captivity” lists four methods gorillas use to transport infants, one being: “drag--a mother walked tripedally while the infant was held in one hand away from the body.“ @ Husbandry #65 A source cited by the manual describes that method as: “Infant is dragged on the ground near the mother’s body as she locomotes quadrupedally or tripedally.“ Hoff et al (1983) @ Table 2 in Hoff et al : Full video of the Cincinnati Zoo incident Videos of Harambe back when life was good Thankfully the child is okay and expected to fully recover of the ordeal! Saving that adventurous boy was everyone’s intention.