Shot That Killed a Gorilla to Save a Child Heard Around the World: PatchWeekly

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Shot That Killed Gorilla Harambe Heard Around the World

Decades ago, a gorilla in Chicago picked up a child who fell into her enclosure and returned him to his family. Last week, the silverback Harambe was shot dead by a Cincinnati Zoo sharpshooter to protect the 3-year-old boy who had suddenly fallen into his den. The Western lowland gorilla mourned around the world was being celebrated just a day earlier on his 17th birthday. Fifty years ago, Harambe’s death might have been shrugged off, even cheered. Today, as the apes in his enclosure mourn, as people argue vehemently about whether the shooting was necessary, his death represents a seminal moment in the movement to end ape captivity.
» a special report by Patch's Beth Dalbey

What Readers Are Saying ...

Given that if you were to take them to Africa and release them the people there would probably shoot them for bushmeat, I am not a fan of repatriating great apes into the wild. When and if the human populations near those wild habitats actually learn to value these animals, then it would be wise.
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