Harambe

On 27 May 1999, a western lowland silverback gorilla was born at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville in the US State of Texas. The gorilla was named Harambe after the song Harambe (working together for Freedom) by Rita Marley who was married to Bob Marley. The term Harambe is Swahili for "all pull together", referencing the East African tradition of labour for the good of the community and not as a job for payment. The term Harambe can be found on the Kenyan coat of arms. In 2014, Harambe was moved to Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio where he was put together with two females named Chewie and Mara. Sadly, Harambe's time there would be short-lived.

On 28 May 2016, a three-year-old boy who wanted to get into the enclosure climbed into the enclosure after falling into a moat of shallow water. Harambe disobeyed the orders given by keepers to go inside and dragged the child like a ragdoll through the water after becoming distressed with the screams of onlookers. To save the child, Cincinnati Zoo officials decided to kill Harambe with a single rifle bullet. The boy had non-life threatening injuries but was transported to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center following a trauma assessment. Harambe was put down on the ground of child endangerment but that didn't stop people from disagreeing on the basis that western lowland silverback gorillas like Harambe are endangered of going extinct. After his death, Harambe's mortal remains were donated to medical science and saved some of his sperm (sex cell found in male animals and cisgender men which can fertilise an egg in reproduction) which could help save his species in the future.