A Western Lowland gorilla has been shot dead at the Cincinnati Zoo after a four year old child fell into its enclosure.
Harambe, a 17-year-old, 400-pound gorilla was shot 10 minutes after getting "agitated" carrying around the boy.
After the gorilla was shot with a rifle, the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to
WKRC reports.
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Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said the child had fallen under the rail, through wires and over the moat wall.
Maynard added that whole the decision to shoot an endangered species was hard, they were left with no other option.
"They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life.
"The child was not under attack but all sorts of things could happen," Thane said. "He certainly was at risk".
A number of people took to social media to voice their displeasure at the decision to put Harambe down, after an incident which was seemingly no fault of his own.
https://twitter.com/Rickamansmom/status/736946193750753281
https://twitter.com/jcottle67/status/736946188344262657
https://twitter.com/catmandu13/status/736945879425388546
Explaining the zoo's decision further, Maynard said zoo officials decided against shooting Harambe with a tranquilizer because the drug takes effect too slowly.
"You don't hit him and he falls over," Maynard said. "It takes a few minutes."
"This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide."
Harambe was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas and transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo in 2015. He celebrated his 17th birthday last Friday.
https://twitter.com/LilMissRightie/status/736937744182726657
